My Daughters and their Husbands

My Daughters and their Husbands
This blog will be bits and pieces of my rather simple life, but should provide my daughters with some things they may not know about me. There will be entries here when thoughts come to mind. The posts will be mostly anecdotal and will deal with interesting or unusual events in my earlier life. As a person gets older, many memories pop up periodically about events of the past. I want this blog to be a repository for some of these memories which I wish to share with my daughters.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

BOY SCOUTS

CHRISTY AND TIFFANY,

(SEPTEMBER 21, 2010) I just recently came across my Boy Scout uniform. It brought back memories, both good and bad.

I was in troop #6 in Beckley that met every week at the First Baptist Church. My scout leader Mr. A--, though a large man, looked like a leader in his uniform. However, he didn't do a lot with the scouts.

I recall a hike we took (about 3-5 miles) one Saturday morning. It was more of an urban highway hike along the side of the 19-21 bypass. We had our peer leaders leading us on while learning some hiking chants (some were a bit bawdy). Our adult leader met us at the final destination, having arrived in his car. He was, however, to admired for taking on the troop since he had no sons - only one daughter whose name was B--.

I can remember the evenings at our meetings as we worked on merit badges - tying knots, cooking on a campfire, and doing other activities that led to winning the cherished badges. During my span of 3-4 years as a scout I accumulated over 30 badges, leading to LIFE scout (2 badges away from my EAGLE badge - Swimming and Lifesaving). Had I gone one more summer to scout camp in Bland, Va, I could have worked on the two badges, but my experiences there in the past had not been positive.

I guess that I'm too much of a "comfort freak" since I could never get used to sleeping on a "straw tick" (a sewn up sheet stuffed with fresh straw outside the cabin. I also found that the scouts often did not act "scout like." Some were downright gross. Though I enjoyed the activities during the day, the guys in my cabin were not pleasant to be around.

I earned the "God and Country" award with the help of my mother tutoring a friend of mine and me in Bible verses and other material we would be tested on. I earned that award, and my mother was as pleased as if I had earned the EAGLE. I sometimes regret not having earned the last two merit badges to earn my EAGLE. However, I think that the experience helped mold me into the type of person I am today - TRUSTWORTHY, LOYAL, HELPFUL, FRIENDLY, COURTEOUS, KIND, OBEDIENT, CHEERFUL, THRIFTY, BRAVE, CLEAN AND REVERENT. The Boy Scouts made a difference in my life.

LOVE,

DAD

No comments:

Post a Comment