Scouting, Volume 68, Number 3, May-June 1980 Page: 50
58, [64] p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Sam Reaves (from page 29)
"Cub Scouting and Boy
Scouting knit the
family closer together
. . . if the families
will use them,"
says Sam Reaves.
and also advancement records in colors to
match the Cub Scout badges. One book
contained the activities for all ranks. The
council Cub Scout division letterhead
showed a den, a fence, and a garden of
hollyhocks, illustrating the idea of the
home-based den.
Reaves remembers dropping in on early
meetings of his son's den. His observation:
"They were full of fire and enjoying it
immensely." Happily for everyone, the
program was working well, no complaints
or difficulties were voiced by the den
mothers. Cub Scouting in St. Louis could
proceed full speed ahead.
National Cub Scouting began in 1930.
And on January 20, twins Walter and
Kensinger Jones were officially registered
as the first St. Louis Cub Scouts. News
releases to three metropolitan papers and
talks before PTA, church, and civic groups
brought immediate response. St. Louis
Cub Scouting took off "faster than we
anticipated. The time was right."
Reaves recalls perhaps eight or ten
packs forming the first year. But often
there would be an isolated group of boys.
"We went ahead with unattached dens
and used them as entering wedges into the
church, PTA, or other chartering organ-
izations to form a pack." But lone dens
were allowed to continue until they had
the company of others.
The tremendous response to Cub
Scouting showed up a flaw in the council's
Cub structure after a few months. There'd
been a Cub division, a Cub committee and
a commissioner's staff, all on the council
level. "We discovered we should have
made the Cub Scout program part of the
total council program, operating at the
district level."
The council retained the Cub commit-
tee, while training, advancement, and the
commissioner's service were moved into
the districts. "That made closer ties
between the Cub pack and the Boy Scout
troop, and made Cub Scouting an integral
part of the Scouting family in a church,
synagogue, or PTA."
Growth had been great before; now it
50
blossomed under district operation.
As in the experiment, Reaves found no
difficulty in recruiting leaders; it was
much easier than in Boy Scouts or the
Senior program. "The moms and dads
were so anxious for their boys to be a
part."
Most leaders stayed with it in the early
days, until their sons outgrew Cubbing;
some continued long afterward.
Early training was conceived by the
council, with Cubmasters and den mothers
in one program, den chiefs in another that
stressed hobbies and crafts. Sometimes
training was held in the Scout sections of
department stores. "Many sales people
were good at handicraft and stunts, so they
helped," Reaves says.
From the beginning, den mothers met to
talk over programs and problems, and
attended district and council training. Pow
wows appeared several years later.
As Cub Scout programs were springing
up in other cities, St. Louis still led the way
in old Region Eight, six states in the
Kansas-Missouri area. Word of its success
spread, and an article in a national
women's magazine prompted Kansas City
mothers to demand Cub Scouting there.
Reaves conducted a training course there
in 1932.
Also in 1932, Dr. James E. West, Scout-
ing's Chief Scout Executive, came to St.
Louis to talk with Reaves. Dr. Hurt had
finished his work for the BSA, and a
national Cub Scouting director was need-
ed. West asked Reaves to take the job.
Reaves turned it down. He spent an
entire day convincing West of his serious
objections to uprooting his children,
Franklin and Mildred, to live in New York
City. His wife had died in 1930.
"Sure, it would have been a boost up the
ladder financially and in every way, but I
had too much love for those kids to cart
them off to New York." Still, he considers
it a great honor to have been asked.
Sam's son Franklin was just at the age to
be a Cub when the St. Louis program
began, and he started a family tradition.
His son Franklin Reaves, Jr., was also a
Cub. When Franklin III (Tod) became a
Cub in 1978, Sam Reaves was there to put
the badge and neckerchief on his great-
grandson.
That's not all. Other former Cub Scouts
in the family are grandson Christopher
Reaves Goeke (Mildred's son) and an-
other great-grandson, John Dallum IV.
Chris lives in Warren, Mich.; all the others
live in the Kansas City area.
Looking back at his four generations'
worth of experience, Reaves points out
that Scouting, just like schools and col-
leges, keeps refining its program to keep it
up to date. "The program's changed, but
not a whole lot. The ideals are the same. I
hope the ideals never change."
Reaves recalls that in the early days,
many boys had no uniforms. Those who
did wore outfits that included knickers
that buttoned below the knee. But if the
uniforms were different, the activities boys
liked then were similar to today's. Most
entertaining for the boys and the public,
he remembers, were kite flying and model
airplane contests, displays of crafts and
hobbies in a big tent at council camporees,
and dog shows with their parades of pets
and owners.
And what about the kids, then and now?
"I can't see that there's a bit of difference
between youngsters today and 50 years
ago."
The value of Cub Scouting to families
remains the same, too. "I am confident my
son and I were brought closer together
because of Cub Scouting and Boy Scout-
ing. I saw it with my great grandson. It
knits the family closer together; it has that
potential, at any rate. If the family will
utilize it, there's absolutely no question
about it." He sees this as especially im-
portant at Cub Scout age, because as boys
grow older, their activities are more in-
dependent of the family.
"I go along with Lord Baden-Powell
who said that if he had a boy who could
enjoy only one phase of the Boy Scout
program, he would want that to be the
Cub Scout program. I think I would say
that same thing, without in any way de-
tracting from the Boy Scout or Exploring
programs."
Reaves is on the national Cub Scouting
50th Anniversary Committee, helping
plan the 1980 celebration. So his interest
and activity continue, even though his
work as a Cub Scouting director ended in
the '30s when he became assistant Scout
executive and director of the Senior Scout
program, which in St. Louis was Sea
Scouting.
He was also camp director at Irondale,
Mo., and states with pride that Scout
executives Dan Wheatcroft (Heart of
America Scout Council, Kansas City,
May/June 1980 Scouting
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 68, Number 3, May-June 1980, periodical, May 1980; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353559/m1/94/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.