Scouting, Volume 62, Number 6, September 1974 Page: 40
112 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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NORTH CENTRAL REGION
By Downing B. Jenks
Regional President
Registered Adults 171,723
Local Councils 46
Districts 326
When you think of the North Central Region, you have to
think BIG. And to get it started took someone like an un-
daunted railroader, John Budd of St. Paul, who two years
ago brought about a successful regional alignment. The
task wasn't the easiest, considering the geography and
the fact that until 1972 it was two rather traditional re-
gions— Region 8 (the Great Central West) and Region 10
(Paul Bunyan Country) — and parts of two other regions.
An organizing committee headed by Roy Jordan of St.
Louis met in Kansas City in April 1972, selecting John
Budd as the first regional president and J. Fred Billett, re-
gional executive from the old Region 1 (New England), as
the regional director.
Three operating areas were established, out of Denver,
St. Paul and Kansas City. Donald E. Jansen of Denver
was named president of Area 1 — Colorado, Wyoming,
Montana, western Kansas and Nebraska. Howard E.
Smith of Windsor, Colo., is now area president.
L. J. (Jad) Asfeld of St. Paul accepted the presidency of
Area 2 — North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, west-
ern Wisconsin and part of Iowa. A. H. (Red) Cromb of
Kansas City was picked to lead Area 3 — Kansas, Mis-
souri, southern Illinois and the rest of Iowa.-
At a regional meeting in October 1973 at Kansas City, I
succeeded John Budd as North Central president. Our
regional cabinet meets quarterly and has been working
hard to continue to bring quality Scouting to boys in our
region. The area officers also meet quarterly, except that
council presidents are involved in some of their meet-
ings. These close-working relationships are very effec-
tive. Distances involved in regional operations could
have been a problem, but they are not. Usually, cabinet
meetings are on a fly-in/fly-out, same-day basis and the
agenda is discussed prior to each meeting by phone.
Our region is currently emphasizing the importance of
training. Wood Badge courses, for example, jumped from
8 to 21 this summer, with more than 1,000 Scouters par-
ticipating. Weekend Wood Badge courses will begin this
fall in our major councils. The region is also moving ag-
gressively forward in its professional training program.
This region in the heart of the nation is blessed in the
earth's rich natural resources with magnificent national
parks and thousands of lakes. It is the nation's "bread-
basket." It has been the crossroads of a great country
since the time of the Indian, and we have literally every-
thing for everybody.
First came trappers and traders, then the immigrants
. . . Pony Express . . . railroads ... the gold rush
. . . cowboys ... the heroes of the West... all part of our
history. But it's the people who are here now who count.
Our regional patch symbolizes our love of country and
Scouting. The states linked like a chain around this em-
blem indicate that we are a team. We will never forget the
pioneer or the sodbuster, droughts and floods, but we
see only prosperity and good times for midwest Scouting.
(Downing B. Jenks held unit positions before serving at
the council and regional levels, and is a Silver Beaver. He
is chairman of the board for the Missouri Pacific Railroad
Company and the Mississippi River Corporation.)
SOUTH CENTRAL REGION
By John D. Murchison
Regional President
Registered Adults 145,520
Local Councils 45
Districts 360
In the nearly 600,000 square miles that compose the
South Central Region, nature and man, individually and
together, have wrought remarkable achievements.
Here are found the nation's largest supply of petroleum
and natural gas, bountiful production of cotton, cattle,
grapefruit and oranges, timber, wheat and minerals. New
Orleans and Houston, the nation's second and third larg-
est ports respectively, are situated in the region. Carls-
bad Caverns in New Mexico, the mighty Mississippi Riv-
er, Philmont Scout Ranch — all landmarks, places of
great scenic beauty and importance — are found in the
great South Central Region.
Far more important than all these, however, are the 25
million people representing as much a cross section of
America as any other part of our land. They are bright,
aggressive, hardworking, born here or drawn here by a
gift of natural riches, kept here by a satisfaction, a fond-
ness of our version of the "good life."
There you have it— some background of the resources
of our great land, some indications of why we believe that
we have both the raw materials and the people to do any
job that our pledge to youth demands.
As the South Central Region looks into its rearview
mirror at what is history, we proudly note that we won the
Spencer Award in 1972 and 1973 for meeting all BOY-
POWER objectives. We completed 1973 with almost
23,000 more boys in Scouting than the beginning of that
year. To date we have remained on target each month of
1974. Our area and regional volunteer structures have
been fully manned. Several of our regional committees
have been effective in creating an excellence in regional
and national events, such as the annual meeting, and in
helping local councils where they need assistance. We
have found the new regional structure a workable meth-
od both from the volunteer and the professional sides.
It has been wisely said that the best we have done in
the past will never be good enough again. This points us
toward the challenges that lie ahead. We have thousands
of young men and women who are yearning to be in our
program, but who have never had the opportunity. We
must offer more and better Scouting to the young people
in our Mexican-American areas, in rural districts and in
the inner-city of our metropolises.
There is also an excellence of program that we must
turn our attention to. One example is the effort to improve
our record of Scout camping. In a climatic zone where
year-round temperatures range from moderate to hot, we
cannot rely on the excuse of limited camping weather to
account for why our Scouts don't camp outdoors more
often. We must increase the number of troops camping
and thereby draw more kids into Scouting.
We know we can achieve our BOYPOWER goals and
win the Spencer Award for the third year. We must mar-
shal our resources, train our people and do the job.
(Among John D. Murchison's many council positions was
his chairmanship of a $1.5 million capital campaign. He
holds the Silver Antelope Award for regional service. He
is a partner in Murchison Brothers, a private investment
firm.) (continued on page 86)
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 62, Number 6, September 1974, periodical, September 1974; New Brunswick, New Jersey. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353624/m1/40/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.