Scouting, Volume 69, Number 3, May-June 1981 Page: 14
50, W1-W24, E1-E24, [40] p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The easy life
Several Scouts from Troop 651, chartered
to the McBee Lions Club, McBee, S.C.,
recently went on a weekend sailing ad-
venture on Lake Murray near Columbia,
S.C. The boys were told to travel light and
to carry food that could be quickly and
easily prepared.
At lunch time we pulled into a wooded
area along the shore and prepared to eat.
My brother-in-law noticed that one of the
Scouts was using a Sterno stove and said to
him, "I thought Boy Scouts were supposed
to cook on rocks and in the fire coals." The
Scout using the Sterno to heat a can turned
and replied, "We're on vacation now."
Leon McCoy
Scoutmaster, Troop 651
McBee, S.C.
Misdirection play
While assisting on the staff at our fall
camporee, we decided to give the patrol
leaders a short quiz which included the
following problem:
"During a cross-country hike you
become separated from your companions.
Night is near. You don't have a compass,
but you know that a road back to camp
should be east of your position. You make
plans to spend the night where you are and
head back to camp in the morning. How
can this be done?"
We were looking, of course, for the
obvious reasoning that the sun rises in the
east. But what we got were lots of com-
plicated answers, most of which gave
details as to preparations for spending the
night. There was one response, however,
that may become a classic.
"Look at your shadow: Your head is
north, your right hand is east, left hand is
west, legs are south, and whichever way
you think you are supposed to go, that is
your destination."
Daniel Hennessey
Milford, Conn.
14
A guided discovery
Did you ever try to lead a mule or a burro
when it did not want to go? The harder you
pulled at it, the harder it resisted. If,
however, you pull sideways, so it thinks it
has won the argument, and you keep
pulling sideways until you are going the
way that you wanted to go in the first
place, everybody is happy. You are going
in the right direction, and the mule thinks
it has persuaded you.
Often, you can do the same thing with a
group of people (such as a Scout troop).
Don't try to drag them—let them start off
in a different direction, and gradually turn
them around until they are back on the
track. That way, everybody is happy, and
you still get to where you wanted them to
go. Watch out though—they might get
wise to this system and use it on you!
R. Christian
Westerville, Ohio
Scouts learn what they live
If a Scout lives with criticism,
he learns to condemn.
If a Scout lives with hostility,
he learns to fight.
If a Scout lives with ridicule,
he learns to be shy.
If a Scout lives with shame,
he learns to feel guilty.
If a Scout lives with tolerance,
he learns to be patient.
If a Scout lives with encouragement,
he learns confidence.
If a Scout lives with praise,
he learns to appreciate,
If a Scout lives with fairness,
he learns justice.
If a Scout lives with approval,
he learns to like himself.
If a Scout lives with acceptance
and friendship,
he learns to find love in the world.
Eddie Ware
Scoutmaster, Troop 67
Belington, W. Va.
Let freedom reign
In our troop, patrols take turns with the
responsibility for preparing the opening
and closing ceremonies. On Tuesday, Jan.
27, the day the freed hostages returned to
Washington, D.C., the patrol leader of the
"Sore Toes" patrol read an opening poem
that described the patriotism we all should
have. But the closing was the scene that
was very special.
The patrol leader had earlier requested
the senior patrol leader to allow some
extra time for the closing ceremony. When
he was called upon, a voice from the
kitchen adjacent to our meeting room
requested another minute. The rest of the
troop fidgeted in formation.
Finally the patrol leader emerged from
the kitchen carrying a cake with 52 flick-
ering birthday candles that he and his
patrol had baked that afternoon. The
patrol leader read a statement prepared by
the patrol that expressed its thankfulness
that the hostages were free and safely
home.
This had a profound impact on all of us
at the meeting, and it mattered not that the
candles had melted while the speech was
being made. It is moments like this that
make all our efforts as Scouting volunteers
meaningful and make us proud to be
Americans.
W. Jeremiah Greenter
Scoutmaster, Troop 257
Lenox, Mass.
Fences make good youngsters
The following remarks were delivered in a
speech to a district dinner by Verl A.
Underwood, director of development,
Longhorn Council, Fort Worth.
"During the Great Depression of the
1930s, our family lived on the edge of a
small town and always kept a cow, some
chickens, and a garden. Each spring the
cow was turned out to pasture after having
been fed hay and grain all winter.
"Do you know what the first thing she
did? She did not head for the fresh green
grass. No, she headed straight for the
fence, often going completely around the
pasture fence before taking that first
mouthful of grass. Why? She needed to
know the limitations of her new freedom
after being in a barnlot and stall all winter.
"It is my experience that young people,
while not cattle, have a natural desire to
find a fence in order to establish the
limitations of their freedom. Security
comes from knowing, 'This, this, and this I
can do—but that, I cannot do.' " ■
Do you have a Scouting story—serious or
humorous—to share with our readers? If so,
send it to Scouting magazine, P.O. Box
61030, Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, Tex.
75261. If we use it, we pay you $10.
May/June 1981 Scouting
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 69, Number 3, May-June 1981, periodical, May 1981; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353633/m1/14/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.