Submitted by Chuck Magley, Camp Ranger

“WHAT” you want me to help out in a Scout Troop!  I don’t have time.  I do not know anything about Boy Scout’s.  This is what we hear when we ask many people to help, to work as leaders for the young members of our community.  Just for the heck of it, let me describe what could happen at a scout meeting.

We arrive at the meeting place, it could be a church, a school, a community center, a place provided by some organization to hold Scout meetings (who could become the sponsor of the troop}.  You walk in and see some adults in brown uniforms, a bunch of young boys talking, running around, and yelling, seemingly out of control.  You look at your watch and its a few minute’s till this meeting is to start, but no one seems to care.  The adults are off to the side and the noise of the youth are almost too much.  You see one of the adults nod to one of the older youth, and the boy walks to the front of the room and holds his right hand up in the air, his thumb across his little finger and the other three fingers straight up (The Scout Sign).  The room starts to quiet down, you see the boys nudging one another as it becomes quiet.  The young boy at the front of the room is the Senior Patrol Leader elected by the other boys to lead the troop.  The boys gather into small groups and stand at attention as in the back of the room another group gets two flags and gets prepared for the formal opening.  So far, no one has spoken a word, oh, there were some low murmurs, but a look from the Senior Patrol Leader quieted them.  Troop Attention, Color Guard forward, the boys bring the flags forward and put them in their stands, step back, and everyone is saluting the colors and saying the pledge of allegiance.

I mentioned the Scout Leaders was in a brown uniform, but the boys, what a variety of dress, some in uniform, some in jeans and colored shirts.  You wanted to ask why?  The Leader seemed to sense your question and started to explain.  Since this is a relatively new troop not all the boys can afford a complete uniform and this is one of the things that we are going to discuss during the meeting.  As the meeting progressed, they was a general discussion and whenever it would get to noisy, the Senior Patrol Leader would hold up the Scout Sign and the room would quiet.  Then the boys broke into little groups (patrols) and each one had a boy leader (Patrol Leader) again elected by the boys in the patrol. What a concept, boys leading boys.  They were talking about doing things; something called a merit badge, a campout, a hike, a lot of laughing, talking each one trying to be heard, but the boy leaders kept control of the discussion.  You again questioned the adult leader and asked about the things you heard, merit badges, hikes, and campout, the leader explains that there is a huge support group out there to help you with printed material, other adult leaders to ask questions and one more thing, you can go to training sessions to learn to be a great leader.

Yes, we urgently need adult leaders to provide leadership and role models for the young boys of our community.  One of the greatest assets we, who live in the South Mountain Village, have is the Heard Scout Pueblo, where you can take your troop on campout, hikes, even swim in the junior Olympic size pool. You would need three or four more adults, to be your committee, a minimum of five youth and contact Labrada  Martinez (District Executive) at the Grand Canyon Council, BSA phone 602-955-7747 extension 234.  The Council has other leaders with plenty of experience (District Commissioners) to assist you in forming a new troop or just helping out with an existing one.  There are Merit Badge Counselors to help with earning Merit Badges which cover various areas of interest, such as plumbing, music, wood carving, Arts, Nature, Electronics and many more, there are over 100 different merit badges.  There are many training opportunities for adults and there are three Scout Camps in northern Arizona.

Come and join one of the greatest organizations there is, I did over thirty five years ago and it has given me many memories.  Boys, now young men with families thanking me for the good times they had growing up in Scouting. Remember the Scout phone # (602-955-7747)