Why Scouting?

Why Scouting?  Why did you join?  Why are you here?  There is no one correct answer, actually there are probably as many right answers as there are scouts!  Russell Freedman, a biographer and friend of Sir Baden-Powell, founder of Boy Scouts, stated it this way.

“Scouting answered a boy's craving for fun and adventure. But its appeal ran deeper than that, for it also spoke directly to a boy's self-respect. Instead of imposing a lot of rules, scouting put a boy on his honor and trusted him to do his best. It encouraged him to follow his own special interests and discover his own unique abilities. It asked him to use his skills and knowledge to help others. And it challenged him to take on a man's responsibilities.  Scouting took boys seriously.”

For me, Scouting gave me a chance to try new things, feel good about what I could accomplish, and to be part of a group that enjoyed doing some of the same things.  A lot of my fondest memories were of summer camp, learning skills I would never done otherwise, working on the staff, and helping to teach merit badge classes to younger scouts.

 It doesn’t even need to end at Eagle!  I am an Eagle Scout of Troop 141 and I still remember very vividly, the court of honor when I received my medal, but one of my greatest scouting memories will always be Gettysburg 2012 with Troop 97!!!  Why, because even as an adult leader, it gave me a chance to follow my special interests, share them with you, and discover that I had the ability, with help from the rest of the adult leadership, to plan and execute such a great adventure.

Now my goal is to help and encourage you to have fun while discovering your unique abilities, and enable you to use those abilities and skills to help others.

So, what about you?  Are you ready to “discover your own unique ability”?  Are you ready to use your skills and knowledge to help others?  Are you craving to have some fun and adventure?  Feel free to leave a comment, tell me what you’re thinking.