Scouting, Volume 70, Number 4, September 1982 Page: 28
82, E1-E24, [16] p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Gerald Tjoflat,
Scooting Crusader
I 'l l
KE I
SfiEEnffi tr i
!;;!:■ -
BY WILLIAM Convinced that Scouting lessens
SIMON
Photographs by
Manny Rubio
juvenile crime, improves children's
school work, and betters the quality
of life, ffois council president has
increased North Florida's
membership by 50 percent and
doubled the treasury.
28
The North Florida Council," says Judge
Gerald B. Tjoflat (pronounced jo-
flat), speaking to a luncheon meeting
of the council's executive board, "is
doing something revolutionary in the
Scouting movement today."
Below a knotted, frowning brow. Judge Tjoflat's
eyes bore into the audience like laser beams. It's
the kind of intensity I associate with Old Tes-
tament prophets.
Ordinarily I would dismiss an opening state-
ment of this type as public relations claptrap, the
natural braggadocio of a proud council. Instead, I
find myself sitting up a little straighter and moving
a little closer to the edge of my chair. Judge Tjoflat
has my attention.
The difference between the usual chamber of
commerce-type hype and the judge's remark is the
difference between empty platitudes and absolute
conviction. It's the difference between com-
placency and unqualified commitment. When it
comes to Scouting, Judge Gerald B. Tjoflat of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh
Circuit and president of the North Florida Coun-
cil, is a zealot, a true believer obsessed with a sense
of mission.
"Scouting may be fun-and-games for the boys,"
continues the judge. "But its true value is de-
veloping the youth of the country in such a way
that they have the strength of character to resist the
awesome pressure that peer groups put on them to
use drugs, peddle drugs, and engage in crime.
"Our approach is embedded in granite: Scout-
ing in the long run is the key to the crime problem
and ultimately the health of the country. If I had
my way, we'd have universal training in the form
of Scouting.
"With this message we committed ourselves
several years ago to the task of doubling the size of
this Scout council in three to four years. Now that's
just unheard of. We're talking about a council
made up of 15 counties. That's extremely ambi-
tious. So ambitious as to be discouraging. But let
me tell you where we are.
"Four years ago our budget was about $400,000.
It's now $825,000. We're sending the United Way
a budget of more than $1,000,000 for 1983. We run
a council where we don't spend a dollar we don't
have. We don't hire anybody; we don't fix up a
building; we don't do anything unless we have the
money in hand.
"We are 40 percent larger in boys at the end of
the first quarter of 1982 than we were two years
September 1982 Scouting
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 70, Number 4, September 1982, periodical, September 1982; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353590/m1/36/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.