Were/are you a Boy Scout?

It seems many threads around here mention scouting and I was just curious, how many of you out there were/are Boy Scouts? I was, not by choice at the time, however. My mom forced me into Cub Scout, then forced me to continue into Webelos, then forced me into Boy Scouts. And I have to say that this is problably the single most important part of my upbringing that has shaped me into who I am today. Of course, it's easier to see that now that I am older :ironic: . Also, like you all can probably guess, this is where the infatuation with flashlights began. :laughing:



-DF

Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent...

I rarely violate more than three or four at a time these days...


I had a so-so Scouting experience, but still view it as an absolutely critical part of my youth. My son will be a Scout, and I'm more than a little sad that my daughter won't be...

Girl Scouts aren't nearly as good a program, IMHO. I'd really like to see them work more on the self-reliance and building self-esteem through working hard to accomplish difficult tasks with your own hands...

I was one and I agree, it was a very important part of my upbringing and shaped me into what I am today. Being "honorable" (trustworthy) is a way of life.

In Spanish it is:

honorable
leal
servicial
amigable
cortés
bondadoso
obediente
alegre
trabajador
limpio

We have a co-ed Scouting organization; lots of fun.

I was a scout from the age 8 to 16, when I joined the national guard's youth program here in Norway. I believe that the things I learned as a scout has been of help later in life. I'm confident in myself, and know that I have the skills I need to survive in harsh conditions. I also got my first training in leadership in the boyscouts, becoming a "squadleader" at the age of 13.

While there was times I really HATED setting up camp in the cold rain, my only comfort being that there was only 2 days until the trip was over, I wouldn't be without this experience.

Cub Scout for 5 years
Boy scout for 9 years and still going
Eagle scout in 2002

currently an Assistant Scoutmaster in my troop

Hold the position of Vice Lodge Chief of Program in the Order of the Arrow

Wouldn't have missed a minute of it. Yes even the camping in the rain/snow.


About the girl scouts, they are supposed to run a program for girls up to age 18, like boy scouts. Unfortunately there is almost no interest in the program at this point, so the program usually ends around age 13-14. The boy scouts have in an effort to give girls the chance to continue in the scouting program have redesigned the explorer program and renamed it the Venture program.

Venture Crews (not troops) are for boys and girls, ages 14-21 who wish to continue in the scouting program at a higher level than the standard boy/girl scout level. Since it is an older age group, they are allowed to do more activities, and take more responsibility in leading the group.

Deanster said:

Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent...

I rarely violate more than three or four at a time these days...

Click to expand...

Girl Scouts aren't nearly as good a program, IMHO. I'd really like to see them work more on the self-reliance and building self-esteem through working hard to accomplish difficult tasks with your own hands...

Click to expand...

That's a great suggestion, Deanster. I would like to see more focus on self-reliance skills also, the kind that can pay off all throughout one's life.

I was also a Scout, for some half dozen years I think. Got to Eagle and learned a few things along the way.

I've never really thought of myself as a Scout, but the truth is, I did short stints in the Cub Scouts and later, a Police Explorer program. When I went to college, I quit the Explorers, which I thought was mostly a waste of time, and joined Army ROTC--which was an extremely valuable, if not always fun, experience.

My law enforcement agency has an Explorer unit, and it is practically a special unit unto itself. Lots of boys and girls, organized and motivated, from what I can tell. We make fun of them because they always seem to do a lot of tactical training wearing BDU pants--way more than we do! The running joke is when major situations are going down, we'll have the Explorers rappel in from the choppers and save our ***!

Yup and I even sold cookies door-to-door. . .wait no, wrong gender. . . no wonder I got kicked out!?

Boy Scouting and campouts helped to ensure my existing fascination with lights would continue. I was one of the few (in the '60s) who brought a glass lensed, heavy steel, Empire (Metal Ware Co. - Two Rivers. WI) lantern, plus a heavy duty (for the time) flashlight...and they both, usually, worked.

My father made sure I had lights although he wasn't a flash-head.

Done scouting in Malaysia from 8 years old until I went to university. Had loads of fun and made loads of friends. :laughing:

Was a scout for 1 year, got kicked out for being too rowdy, guess I'm a non-conformist

BTW, we had a saying: once a Scout, always a Scout...

Cub Scout Den Leader
Boy Scout Patrol leader, Star Scout

The thing I learned the most from scouting was survival skills.

Scout for 6 years.(Oldest First Class Scout in Troop history)
Cubmaster for 4 years.
Scout master for 8 years.
Committee member for 25 years.
Order of the Arrow.

Cub scout and boy scout. Made it to Life and aged out before i could get Eagle. I took a few years off to be a rebelous teen though.

Yep, Cub through Explorer.

Long time ago though...

Lord Baden-Powell was my Den Father and later Ernest Thompson Seton my Scoutmaster

A long time ago, I was in the Boy Scouts.
Forgot which merit badges I earned though.

We had weekly meetings in a church basement in Douglas Alaska, and we had a week-long campout "out the road" (somewhere in the Mendenhall Valley, just north of Juneau).

Troop 42, Chicago IL

Did cub scouts and boy scouts. Never got my eagle though. One of the things that I really regret not doing. For about 3 years all I needed to do was 2 merit badges and the project. Kept on putting it off until it was too late. Ran out of time. Had some fun, then a lot of sitting at a desk doing merit badges that requried paper work.