Tom's first Scouting experience was in Pack 117, Great Bend, Kansas. Naturally, I followed along and was a member of the Pack Committee. Things went well until they chose a den father who HAD to meet on Wednesday nights. That was fine with everyone else, but Tom was in the choir of a different church and that's when they practiced. Figuring that the Pack they sponsored wouldn't dare conflict with the church choir of the sponsoring institution, Tom transferred to Pack 149, taking me with him.
I really enjoyed being on the Pack Committee of Pack 149. The best part
was working with Phil Marple, who had grown up near
where North Dakota, Montana and Canada meet. Despite coming from a very
different part of the country than I did, we found we had enjoyed very
similar boyhood Scouting experiences. We thus had very similar views on
how Scouting should be done. He moved to Nebraska a few years later,
and I sure miss having him around.
The highlight of our experience with Pack 149 was the time Phil (as
Cubmaster) and I (as his assistant) took the Webelos to the council
camp, Camp Kanza. Other leaders COMMANDED their boys, usually attaining
the desired results... until their backs were turned. Phil, instead,
COACHED the boys into appropriate behavior, and the our boys were the
best behaved in camp, whether we were watching or not. When we arrived
at camp, it was about to rain, so we quickly erected the tents and told
the boys to put in their gear ... being careful not to touch the walls
... and then we took them up to the dining hall until the rain stopped.
Before heading out, we noticed that a couple of boys hadn't listened.
Rather than chew them out, we quickly realized that it was summer (so a
wet sleeping bag wouldn't be dangerous) and we decided that they had
been told once. Mother Nature is a great teacher! We could have moved
the gear ourselves. We could have ordered the boys back to do as they
were told. Instead, we said and did nothing. When the rain stopped and
the boys came back, some complained about the wet gear. Without making
a scene, we just told them that's why we had given the advice we had
given. Consider the benefits of this approach: (1) from that moment on,
they paid much more attention to our advice, and (2) every one of them
knows ... to this day ... not to put gear along the side of a tent.
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Over the years, since Tom's still in the Troop, I've retained at least a nominal membership in the Troop Committee, but I'm leaving much of the hard work for the younger fathers.
Even before Tom was born, I was involved as a member of the District Committee of Cheyenne District of the Kanza Council. Most of the time, my role was that of the Publicity Chairman for the District. A few years ago, the local TV anchorman took the job. Since then, the Cheyenne District has merged with the Lakota District (around Pratt), and I haven't been involved in Scouting at that level.
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