Be Prepared

Many of you know that I am involved in working with the youth at my church. I teach lessons on Sundays and sometimes participate with other activities. Some of these activities involve Boy Scout events and camping trips.

Last night I went with the group on an overnighter. Our original plan was to visit Antelope Island, but instead we went to a church campground in the mountains near Huntsville. The trip brought back many memories of my own scouting days, and made me appreciate some things about how my troop was run.

The person acting as our scoutmaster is rather laid back, and his leadership style is very different from my former scoutmaster's. The boys really did none of their own cooking on this trip. The hobo dinners they had on Friday night were pre-packaged by the scoutmaster's wife. They merely had to heat them for the necessary time. We didn't even have the boys wash their dishes this morning. In my own troop, each patrol did its own cooking and cleaning and the leaders had not only a separate cooking setup, but frequently a different menu altogether.

Another difference was in the campfire policy. Despite the dry climate, I have never been on a campout here in the west where anyone had a safety bucket full of water right by the fire. This was always absolutely required in our troop (I remember at least one fire being extinguished because we failed to meet this requirement).

A couple of the boys brought large knives with them. Boys Scout requirements state that no one bring any fixed-blade knife, and that pocket knives have blades no longer than 3 or 4 inches (not sure which). Rather than immediately confiscate the knives, the scoutmaster told them not to bring them in the future (I guess he only noticed them right before we were leaving anyway - and I forgot the rule or I would have said something the night before).

The point of this post was not to be overly critical of things, merely to reminisce for a bit about my own scouting days. The trip was rather fun, and the boys enjoyed themselves for the most part. I know that here (in my town) the scouts' parents are not nearly as involved as they generally were in my old troop growing up. I gained a glimpse into just how much time and effort my own scout leaders must have put forth to make my experience as varied and interesting as it was.

P.S. In all fairness, the boys did set up and take down their own tents. With regard to the cooking - some of the boys have earned cooking merit badge. This shows that cooking skills have been taught in this troop. That is good. It does puzzle me, however, that boys who have proven cooking ability are not required to perform this duty. Nevertheless, I know by observing the boys that many scouting skills have been taught - just not to the extent I was used to.