Scouting, Volume 63, Number 4, September 1975 Page: 14
112 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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A GOOD TURN FOR THE SCOUTMASTER
BY LOUISE BOWMAN
The summer of 1959 had been the
typically busy one, with the three
boys out of school. Our most time-con-
suming activity was Scouting, since our
family consisted of a Cub Scout, a
Scout, a den mother, a Scoutmaster
and a six-year-old trying to be all of
them at the same time.
Our involvement with Scouting had
begun five years before in Cub Scouts.
Three years later when one of our
Cubs went into Scout Troop 22, my
husband Ed became their Scoutmaster
as well as continuing his work in Cub
Scouts. By 1959 Scouting had become a
way of life with our family, as neces-
sary as our weekly family nights. Since
we were all involved, it was necessary
for us to place priorities in the right
perspective, and then help the person
who had the highest priority if we
were needed. It seemed there was al-
ways something I wanted done around
the house, but we knew there would
be a house long after little boys were
gone; and we felt our involvement
with them was worthwhile and fun.
Troop 22 was exceptional, called on
many times by the district to partici-
pate in special events because it was a
"sharp" troop, well organized and de-
pendable. Ed expected great things —
and they happened. Besides weekly
troop meetings at the Scout hut, there
were weekly patrol meetings in the
homes. There were camping trips
about once a month; the annual Appa-
lachian Trail trip during the New
Year's holidays. There were Scout-o-
ramas, expositions and committee
meetings which required many late
hours of preparation. The dads were
helpful and cooperative because the
troop meant a lot to the boys, and their
dads often expressed a desire to do
something special for Ed because of
the many hours he spent for the boys.
That year a week in August was re-
served for summer camp at Bert
Adams Scout Reservation. The night
before the troop left, our house was
like Grand Central Station as boys
were checking with the Scoutmaster
about merit badges they would be
working on at camp in order to meet
requirements for advancement. The
troop left for camp on Sunday.
On the Friday night before the troop
was to return home from camp I had a
telephone call from the troop commit-
tee chairman. He said he had planned
to surprise me, but decided he had
better let me know to expect some-
thing unusual Saturday morning about
eight o'clock. He told me the dads of
the troop had been trying for some
time to seek some means of showing
their appreciation for Ed's work with
the youngsters. They had a project in
mind for Saturday.
I arose early Saturday morning, not
knowing exactly what to expect.
Promptly at eight o'clock a car pulled
up in front of the house, then another,
and another, until they were all around
our place. A neighbor called, "Is any-
thing wrong at your house?" Ladders,
paint buckets, paint brushes and scrap-
ers were unloaded onto the yard. Soon
ladders were up at each window of the
house with men on all of them. One
troop dad was on the roof at the
dormers. I went outside, almost unbe-
lieving. There was Stan scraping the
awnings. Although Stan was not a dad
and had plenty else to do — going to
college and holding two jobs — he still
found time to serve as assistant Scout-
master.
Going around the house speaking to
each of them, I thought of their sons
and the contribution each of them had
made to the troop. Paul knew every-
thing about pets and wildlife, and
planned to become a veterinarian.
Tommy was stable, an organizer, a
planner. Steve had a great sense of hu-
mor and made everything fun. Danny
was dependable; you could always
count on him when you needed him.
Artie was a hard worker with no task
too large to undertake, and on and on.
One of the dads, his tool chest in
hand, asked me if there were any re-
pairs I would like done. "Every woman
keeps a list of things her husband
never gets to," he said. I was a bit hesi-
tant, but it didn't take him long to spot
the broken glass in the back porch
window that had gotten in the way of a
baseball just that week. He hurried to
the hardware store for putty and a
new piece of glass.
The house was brick, but had many
windows and lots of white trim. The
dads had heard Ed say that he was go-
ing to paint his house immediately af-
ter summer camp. This seemed the an-
swer to the question these dads had
pondered for some time, that "some-
thing special" they could do for him.
The dads worked hard to finish the
job before he returned from camp that
day. Cars would pass along the street
and slow down to see what was going
on. Some stopped. Some folks took pic-
tures. After all, it was unusual to see
that many men and ladders strung
around a house. Neighbors came over
and commented on this "turnabout
Good Turn" by our friends and said
things like, "This old world is pretty
good after all." For we lived in a com-
munity where people cared for each
other. None of us was wealthy in terms
of money, but we were blessed with
boys — a generation whose character
and habits would one day have a tre-
mendous effect on our communities
and country.
About 10:30 I slipped off to the gro-
cery store to get some hamburger
meat, Cokes and trimmings for lunch. I
was gone about an hour and when I re-
turned I saw a few extra cars at the
house and discovered another surprise.
Mothers had arrived with lunch for the
group and were spreading it on the
picnic table. The men took a break in
the heat of the day and enjoyed a deli-
cious lunch. Afterward, the mothers
left while the men went on about their
work. (continued on page 70)
14
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 63, Number 4, September 1975, periodical, September 1975; New Brunswick, New Jersey. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353698/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.