My first Scout meeting

My first BS meeting started sometime while I was a Cub Scout and before I ever attended one Troop meeting. My Dad was the SM and my older brother was a Scout. My brother did well and advanced rapidly to Life Scout. They would come home and talk about what happened and how they could do better. I was impressed by what I thought of as that which was the best and it was all just waiting for me.

My Dad left Scouting and my brother soon followed as we moved to another town. I read Dads SM Handbook, his Fieldbook and my brothers BSHB and PLHB. I began by memorizing the Scout Law and the definition of each one. At that time, it was required. I also started memorizing the Morse Code by using the small to larger/easier to harder word/alphabet helps in the Fieldbook. I had the Scout ideal firmly fixed in my mind when I finally walked through the door my first night.

It was a new Scout unit and we were meeting in the elementary school building. Patrols were formed without much thought. My PL was older and he didnt take his job very seriously so he left soon after without doing too much. Our first campout was scheduled the next weekend and nothing had been planned, meaning we didnt have any food. I was disappointed because I expected guys to want to be Scouts but that just wasnt the case. It was a bad beginning for high expectations but it didnt stop me because I knew something wonderful was just beyond.

One further comment: The new BSHB had just been approved when I started and they dropped the memorization of the definitions of the Scout Law. What inspired me were those definitions. It affixed the ideal in my mind of what Scouting was all about. It was like a star that guided me during those first few years when I met several problems and a few failures. It gave me a way to go beyond myself and to reach heights that I couldnt have reached otherwise. I still think about those principles at the most unusual times and places. fb