Well it’s been a year since I talked about Boy Scouts and returned a first aid achievement ribbon my patrol earned. I attending a meeting and intended to help as an adult volunteer. Maybe get a trip to Isle Royal or one of the few remaining national camps. Something I learned during my visit was my family’s contributions helped fund some of the great trips our troop took. I’ve lots of experience in the mountains and soloed Isle Royal a couple times so being out in it is not a mystery and I wanted to share.
They asked… so I shared how scouting left you with skills that you would have for the rest of your life. I talked about high adventure camps, national conferences and the Order of the Arrow. I explained how Manchester was a great place to start the adventure but found expanding one’s experience beyond could lead to great potentials such as joining national council as it did for me. No bragging just stating facts. The point of scouting as I know it, is to be in competition with yourself and participate as a group when appropriate. That balance will lead to many possibilities as you walk the trail of life before you. I know it sounds corny but “Eagle Scout”.
Unfortunately as go so many things in Manchester, I found myself in a conversation being one-upped by others achievements, and as always failing to, “we even have a ex governor that was an Eagle Scout”. Maybe… but I’d bet he was an eagle scout long before he knew about Manchester so they had nothing to do with it.
The boys and adult leaders in Manchester moved between several troops, 426, 436 and 303 yet only one is acknowledged. More over, I know the Manchester scouting movement by something far different than my experience with other troops. Like, not teaching scouts about poison ivy and DON’T ever burn it in a campfire. Like, letting scouts sleep so close to a campfire their sleeping bag get scorched. Like a snipe hunt at a gorge that could have gone very bad. Not to mention favoritism, bullying, conformism or hazing from leaders as well as scouts. See the picture of Manchester scouts reenacting “Lord of the Flies”.
That reality seems to be embedded in Manchester. Of the boys in my troop shown at the top, a few made it to Eagle, often thanks to their parents. The honor board for recipients of Eagle Scout is incomplete with misspelled names and scoutmasters have been omitted. Even at their worse, being a scout master is a monumental task and deserves acknowledgment. Hum, I shared the omissions and errors but a year later no change. I’m left wondering if that’s the best they can do, it’s an extension of the elitism that exists in the community or an homage to days long gone.
Maybe Manchester was a precursor of where scouting is going? I had intended to leave my home to scouting after I passed, easily 200 K yet they didn’t take the time to respond when I contacted the northern tier about beneficiary designation. The site says they want complete discretion as to spending yet with the “big sell off” I would rather ensure the existence of the remaining properties rather than paying someone’s salary. I still have a vague memory of the United Way scandals and how Scouting was loosely implicated in the deception. Forbid that would happen again but the behavior doesn’t feel that far off.
So were do we go from here? With the overreactions to, gender definition, inclusion of females, continuation of less than noble ideals or careless omission, maybe it’s ok if scouting becomes a thing of the past? There were gays in scouting when I was a youth and they acted appropriately. I never found myself in a situation where my hetero orientation was offended. And our group helped the girl scouts when caught in bad storms.
I remember a seminar where E Urner Goodman talked about building service where every boy would contribute. But in history and with current trends scouting seems to be moving toward mirroring the Hitlerjugend.
If so I included three suggestions based on Manchester’s historic scouting movement. After all, merit badges should reflect the skills and technologies currently dominant. Left to right, “Lord of the Fly’s”, “Hazing” and “Fake Truth”. I know, not reflecting the historical ideals of Scouting but if the scouts are going to deviate from the intention anyway, why not reward it?
What's next? 