KISMIF

[Eamonn 61]

Talking with Eagledad (Barry) has put me in a reminiscing frame of mind.

As a young Lad I was fortunate enough to join a very active troop.My parents owned a store and were always very busy so I was happy to do everything and anything that would get me out of the house.

Patrols were important, but were used more because they were a convenient size for doing things and the tents we used were six man tents. The PLC was where we met to find out what we were doing. The adults would decide what they wanted to do and pass that information on to us and we would pass the information on to the Scouts in our patrol. Leadership wasn't important, doing stuff was.There were no themes, a month might see the troop going rock climbing, canoeing, camping. In fact looking back I see that we looked to the District and District Competitions of which there was never a shortage, we had the swimming gala, the District Olympics, Orienteering, Cross Country Race, Five a side soccer,First Aid, Model Making,and the Camp Craft. Of these the Camp Craft was the big one. Patrols camped and were judged on everything!! All meals were tasted and no canned or frozen food. The judges would select a Scout from each Patrol to show his knowledge in a well known Scouting skill: Hand Axe and Knife, Trees and leaves. Knots and lashings,Basic camp first aid, Maps and Compass, and clouds and weather. The trophy was a Felling Axe with a chromed head and the winning patrol had their patrol emblem and troop number carved into the shaft of the Axe.These competition along with the District Night Hike ruled the day and the program. I can't remember any "Classes" of any sort. If a Lad needed to learn some thing in order to reach the next rank, someone took care of it.

When the time came for me to serve as Scoutmaster the big thing that changed was that we didn't have any Scouts!! Membership was the challenge. Unknowingly and unintentionally the Lads that arrived were the kind of Lads that would never have joined the troop as it was when I was a Scout. We had been a middle class bunch and these new Lads were from the projects, many belonged to groups that I suppose we would call gangs, not the organized gangs that we hear of on the news. No Bloods or Cripts?? Just groups that hung out in different places; Play grounds, Parks or street corners. These Lads didn't think that they needed Scouts or Scouting but did a place to hang out!! Looking back at the "Early Days" that is what we offered a place that was warm, inside and safe. We (I) didn't reach out too these Lads they sort of drifted in. They were very competitive and I had an ego as big as the great outdoors. I used this to build up the troop and hold their interest. We had to be the best, we had to win everything. Sports and Soccer were easy these guys were great. Soon they with a little help seen the need to be in uniform and look better than the "Other Guys." The need to win was over riding everything. For the Camp Craft Competition we groomed a winning "Patrol". The first year under my great leadership we had one Patrol come in third and one Patrol come in dead last. Some where some how I took myself to Wood Badge. The Course at that time was playing Boy Scout and Patrol V Patrol. Of course this played in to me and my need to win. It took a long time for me to see the need to make the Patrols really work. Handing over the troop to the Scouts was hard.

The troop was growing, now we had Lads from all over joining. We had Scouts that attended five different High Schools. We were helped by having found a new Cubmaster, who was building up the pack. Our first few Annual Planning Meetings were more to plan summer camp than anything else. But in time we really got behind the idea of the PLC and I seen the need to step back from running the troop and spent my time working with the PL's.

The troop meetings were still fun and there never was Classes. The troop met three times a week a troop meeting, a games night and a swimming night. If a Scout needed help with something someone would help him. In fact the games night might see a young Scout in the kitchen trying to master knots and different older Scouts taking turns to work with him and then disappear to play 3 a side Soccer or go play checkers.

The Scouts liked to camp and over time got really good at it. While we had some weekends where every minute was planned down to the last minute, there were a lot of weekends where just camping was on the agenda. Myself and in time some of the ASM's were members of the Service Crew at a National Camp Site, so we were at the campsite one weekend a month. It seemed silly not to take some Scouts along. They would spend the time just camping and again if a Lad needed to work on some skill it would just happen. During the school summer vacation Patrols would go camping, just to get away. They had fun. They were good at things they enjoyed. I remember receiving phone calls from Gilwell Park, when they had decided that the training grounds were the ideal place to build a monkey bridge!! Then there was the female Cubmaster from Liverpool who thought the song about a fly doing stuff on the sugar was in poor taste.

Being as we still were involved in the District and the District competitions we still liked to win. We of course put the best team in the five a side soccer and the best runner in a race. But the big one was the Camp Craft, we stopped grooming a team and entered real Patrols. We started winning and became the troop to beat. In fact there were years when we took nine out of ten of the top ten places. The Scouts knew what the Judges were looking for and delivered the goods.

A little over half of the Scouts remained in the Venture Unit, when they moved on from the troop. Six went on to become Queens Scouts, a lot earned different Duke Of Edinburgh Awards. A couple ended up in jail for drugs. Still we had fun.

Sad to say the District and the troop is not there anymore. I'm not a great collector of stuff, but I would love to have that darn Felling Axe with the chromed head and our Patrols emblem carved in the shaft.

I suppose I'll settle for the Christmas Cards that have started to arrive, from Lads that were members of troop who most of the time did keep it simple and made it fun.

Eamonn.