Scouting, Volume 48, Number 6, August-September 1960 Page: 16
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a camp
up of
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take
orld Scouting magazine de-
in campfires that seem mega-
t Baden-Powell had in mind
outing for Boys around camp-
chapters. B.-P. knew what it was
pt listeners knotted around the
other for warmth and comfort
huddled since the beginning of
A RECENT ARTTCL^
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when he built his book
fire yarns, not a
to tell a stor
narrator, tou
as young ani
time.
AT H JfW
at a campfire, the mood is every-
, intimate, and primordial. It is friendly
t is often subdued and thoughtful,
the campfire cannot be transmitted over
The disembodied voice is too far away,
mere performer. What might have been
'omes just a program, the audience made
rs waiting to be entertained. This is the
many so-called campfires. They have been
sr by the abominable showmen.
ing that happens around a fire should not be
campfire. There are stunt nights and extrava-
Ame fests and hot dog roasts, that have merits
lerlis of their own. One demerit is to call them
and the booby prize goes to those labeled
campfires" where there is no fire at all! Nor
e Spirit off
M *
- - Campfire
By Samuel D. Bogan
Scout Executive, Quinnipiac Council
i
is it easy to warm one's hands at an imaginary fire
made from a light bulb and revolving foil. The confu-
sion does us no good, and in consequence, real campfires
are often neglected in the overemphasis on these syn-
thetic ones. We need to rediscover our campfires.
To civilize is not to break with the past, but to
capture its instinctive moments of truth and to preserve
them. This is why we should keep campfires burning.
They are part of the best heritage of man, not an inci-
dental bit of the Scout program. We did not invent
them. They glow in racial memory, taking us back to
the young years of the race and all its mystery.
A campfire is a communion, not a spectacle, and its
purpose is to inspire as well as to entertain. The en-
tertainment is best when it is in harmony with this
tranquil spirit. The fire itself should be small so that it
will not blot out the stars, and it should be for the few,
not the multitude. Under a sensitive and thoughtful
leader, the troop fire is best. Free from the crowds and
the showmen, one has the wisdom to be simple. It is
possible to talk, to listen, and to look at the fire for a
long, long time. One can think. And thinking is the
miraculous best of man.
When the fire is small, we can halt the program. We
can proclaim a silence. We can listen to the owl or the
whippoorwill and hear the windy needles of the pine.
The voices of insects, so long unnoticed in our ears,
may rise to consciousness or a lonesome whistle sound
from far away. The mood is everything.
The night is benign, so do not start the fire in day-
light. Let the stars shine. Begin, perhaps, with the
simple pageantry of patrol flags and camp banners. Let
there be solemnity. Tame your brash young leaders to
lead melodious songs, folk songs, music of the trail,
and songs of long ago. Award some honors, but not too
many; and dub the honored ones with affectionate
roughness. Make enough, but not too much of them.
Save time for the storyteller, if the group can be brought
close enough to hear him when he whispers. Give the
leader a few moments at the end, and let him make the
most of them.
Let us also be ready for the unexpected memorable
moments. I can still hear the touching song of a Chilean
lad singing, in Spanish, a plaintive melody from his own
land. "It is a sad story, but a beautiful one," he had
explained. And his companions felt the sadness and the
beauty of his song, not in terms of the story they had not
known or in the beauty of a land they had not seen; but
out of their own widening knowledge of the good, the
beautiful, and the true.
Lead, do not drive, a boy to his campfires. Let him
rest from the long day in the company of his friends
and depart in the company of dreams. Out of the ancient
yearnings of his forefathers, there may pass to him an
inexplicable urge to greatness. He may not understand
its continuity, but his heart will know that man was
born to struggle and there is a glory in his destiny.
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 48, Number 6, August-September 1960, periodical, August 1960; New Brunswick, New Jersey. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth329288/m1/18/: 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.