Screemin' Eagles Newsletter
September '96
Well! The old scout year's finally
over. The big summer trip concluded and
a blow-out Court of Honor finished. The
boys had quite a summer with younger scouts participating in Scout Camp at
Parsons, a Biking trip for the Older Scouts at the San Juans and A High
Adventure Sailing trip for the group that I work most closely with. To all who helped out in these activities,
for the boys, let me thank you. Did you see the load of merit badges and
advancements that poured from these efforts! Did you hear of the great spirit
felt around the campfires and our
Sunday sacrament services.
Much preparation went into putting
the sailing trip together and Id like to make special mention of the long hours
of preparation Kevin Tame and Josh put into getting the motorboat and sailing
rigs together. A number of evenings were spent with the aid of Alan and Glen as
well. The boys all helped create the
sails, masts, rudders - well you name it, we had to fabricate it. In the process, those who worked on this
learned all kinds of skills; riveting, drilling, metal bending, cutting &
welding, painting, knot tying, sewing, material layout. Certainly, the adults did a great deal of
work on the project, but each of the boys who contributed was able to take
their turn at the helm of a seaworthy vessel with thrill & pride in their
accomplishment. Other than a loose bolt that brought the McGyver out of the
Sypher crew, the boats held up very well to some healthy wind and chop. These boats were fast! Towing the vessels
behind the motorboat was a different story - fuel for many campfire yarns to
come.
Lets keep our eyes open for good
deals on canoes. If we own the canoes
instead of renting them, we can create much better decks to keep splash out of
the canoes than the skirts we created for the rentals. This sailing rigging is part of the legacy
these boys leave behind and it was built to last. It will be much easier to use
if we own all the gear.
OK, Onward and upward! Literally.
I'd like to move the emphasis for this year from aquatics to
mountaineering climaxing with rock climbing and a high peak (maybe for the
older scouts) during a 50 mile hike.
This is traditional Scouting for many troops and is the legacy I
am able to carry to your youth from many good men who led me to a love of Gods
wilderness. I invite you to lend your
support. To get us in shape the troop
went on our 1st overnight & 10 mile hike.
When I was 12 year old on my 1st 50
mile hike, I was a little 'Tiny Tim' if there ever was one. I still don't particularly care for that
weight on my back and take every effort to minimize how heavy, how long and
under what conditions and terrain it must be carried. So why do it? I know from
long experience that there is real growth - physical, spiritual and emotional
that can acrew. I conduct all my activities including high adventure as you
read in DC 89 "Given for a principle with a promise, adapted to the
capacity of the weak, and the weakest of all (scouts), who are or can be called
(scouts).
While the world is wrapped up in a
tide of highminded selfishness and pleasure seeking, Our scouting meeting and
outing run by priesthood bretheren for priesthood bretheren are a bulk head of
defence. Our program addresses the categories I've elaborated below in a
favorable way.
Leadership:
Doing projects like building snowshoes, canoes, sails, shelves, book holders
teaches skills and cooperative efforts.
High adventure forces the boys to take care of each other. The patrol method is heavily emphasized and
maps well with the multi-quorum strategy of the church.
Safety
is utmost. 14 years of 50 milers, para-sailing, kayaking, rock climbing,
canoeing, winter & wet camping have yielded a 100% safety record (minus a
few cut fingers). Safety is not an
accident. I give it a lot of thought to minimize or mitigate the inherent risks
of outdoor adventures.
Capability:
Our kids are a lot more capable than most folks or the kids themselves
realize. It's not my way to pamper, but
I've never received a complaint. Quite
the contrary, the boys that struggle the most are the ones who seem to come
back the most excited. If anybodies whining, it's probably me!
Burnout:
Folks don't enjoy a sport and then just walk away with -"been there, done
that" on their lips. The
activities these young boys enjoy one year get repeated for a lifetime. This is true with a caveat. Kids whose creativity has been saturated
with "easy entertainment" may find it more difficult to appreciate
anything not spoon fed, but even my worst 'cartoon kids' have been turned
around spiritually and otherwise due to the Zion's camp effect of a 50 miler.
Advancement: We have a
month to month emphasis on various merit badges both on week nights and our
campouts. Parents, take note of which
ones we are working on if you'ld like to encourage your sons progress. When it comes to advancement - our program
with its' high adventure emphasis achieves up to twice the merit badges earned
as troops that rely on council programs and we deliver the kind of real
adventure they'll tell their grandkids about. This will be available for scouts
12 and up. For the youngest scouts, 11 and maybe some 12 year olds, we will
offer a council run camp experience in the summer. This provides an easy
transition away from home. With so many scouts around, the boys can get a
feeling for the momentum of the scouting movement and experience a flavor of
scouting that we would not try to duplicate on our own. We will have non-overlapping schedules for
those who qualify and want to have it all!
Spiritual
Development:
Many youth in the scriptures discovered God while in the wilderness. Enough of my former scouts have called me to
relate how a 50 miler became a crossroads - where they chose the trail of a
Godly walk, that I've made every effort to include them as a consistent part of
our program. I think it takes getting away
from all that is familiar for a
significant period of time before our programmed faced can be breached. These trips can be a crucible for growth. I
am convinced that I can best achieve this refinement as far away from
civilization as possible.
Physical
Development:
I remember pushing a couple of nervous portly kids somewhat further up a
vertical cliff than they thought they could go. The next day at church, it was those same kids that were
the most jazzed over the rock climbing - not the thin spiders who had had an
easy time of it. This has been repeated so many times. We coddle our kids so much with tailgate
camping or worse that we cheat them of the development that could have been
theirs. Yes, I do want them to dig snow caves, not sleep in cabins.
Missionary
Work:
The best kind of missionary work is one on one. Rubbing shoulders at a camporee with non-member troops might be fun
and we do it most every year, but
that's not were anybodies likely to get converted. In John 15:19 we read:
19
If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not
of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world
hateth you.
The world will not embrace us until we become
like the world. Showing them up at
camporees and scout camps with flagpoles full of ribbons will no more endear
them to our cause than our superior advancement record has hertofore. Having a top flight program that your sons
are proud and excited to share with their friends has a much better chance to
bring them into fellowship.
Emotional Growth: We accelerate
growth when we successfully overcome trials, difficulties or stressful
situations. Its part of the Scoutmasters job to help our boys grow to
emotionally strong men. I try to stay just outside the comfort region. The monthly activities and the summer high
adventure trips are designed to be unfamiliar & challenging, yet doable for
all who prepare by coming to our weekly and monthly activities.
Ok
thats an earfull if you got this far.
We are still putting detail into our next years plan. It will be out shortly for your review.
May you and yours Soar with the Eagles
Scoutmaster
Steve