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Description of ScoutingAdventure! That's what Scouting is! (Official Boy Scout Handbook, Chapter 1, Page 1)In short, Scouting is a youth organization that uses a fun program to promote character development, citizenship training, and mental and physical fitness for every member. The Boy Scouts of America makes Scouting available to our nation's youth by chartering community organizations to operate Cub Scout Packs, Boy Scout Troops, Varsity Scout Teams, and Venturer teams. The chartered organization must provide an adequate and safe meeting place and capable adult leadership, and must adhere to the principles and policies of the BSA. The BSA local council provides unit leader training, program ideas, camping facilities, literature, and professional guidance for volunteer leaders. Scouting's adult volunteers provide leadership at the unit, district, council, and national levels. Many are parents of Scouts; many entered Scouting as youth members. How Scouting Came to AmericaThe Story of a Good Turn, Boy Scout Handbook, Tenth Edition, Chapter 26, Boy Scouts of America How good must a Good Turn be to be good? Te answer is best given by
telling you the story of how Scouting came to America. It shows that it isn't
the size of a Good Turn that counts. What is important is the spirit with which
a Scout does a Good Turn.
One Day in 1909 in London, England, an American visitor, William D. Boyce, lost his way in a dense fog. He stopped under a street lamp and tried to figure out where he was. A boy approached him and asked if he could be of help. "You certainly can," said Boyce. He told the boy that he wanted to find a certain business office in the center of the city. "I'll take you there," said the boy. When they got to the destination, Mr. Boyce reached into his pocket for a tip. But the boy stopped him. "No thank you, sir. I am a Scout. I won't take anything for helping." "A Scout? And what might that be?" asked Boyce. The boy told the American about himself and his brother Scouts. Boyce became very interested. After finishing his errand, he had the boy take him to the British Scouting office. At the office, Boyce met Lord Robert Baden-Powell, the famous British general who had founded the Scouting movement in Great Britain. Boyce was so impressed with what he learned that he decided to bring Scouting home with him. On February 8, 1910, Boyce and a group of outstanding leaders founded the Boy Scouts of America. From that day forth, Scouts have celebrated February 8 as the birthday of Scouting in the United States. What happened to the boy who helped Mr. Boyce find his way in the fog? No one knows. He had neither asked for money nor given his name, but he will never be forgotten. His Good Turn helped bring the Scouting movement to our country. In the British Scout Training Center at Gilwell Park, England, Scouts from the
United States erected a statue of an American buffalo in honor of this unknown
Scout. One Good Turn to one man became a Good Turn to millions
of American boys. Such is the power of a Good Turn.
Here is some information on Famous BSA Scouts. Founders of the BSA and Scouting
As a youth, Robert Baden-Powell greatly enjoyed the outdoors, learning about nature and how to live in the wilderness. After returning as a military, hero from service in Africa, Baden-Powell discovered that English boys were reading the manual on stalking and survival in the wilderness he had written for his military regiment. Gathering ideas from Ernest Thompson Seton, Daniel Carter Beard, and others, he rewrote the manual as a nonmilitary nature skill book and called it Scouting for Boys. To test his ideas, Baden-Powell brought together 22 boys to camp at Brownsea Island, off the coast of England. This historic campout was a success and resulted in the advent of Scouting. Thus, the imagination and inspiration of Baden-Powell, later proclaimed Chief Scout of the World, brought Scouting to youth the world over. Born in Scotland, Ernest Thompson Seton immigrated to America as a youth in the 1880s. His fascination with the wilderness led him to become a naturalist, an artist, and an author, and through his works he influenced both youth and adults. Seton established a youth organization called the Woodcraft Indians, and his background of outdoor skills and interest in youth made him a logical choice for the position of first Chief Scout of the BSA in 1910. His many volumes of Scoutcraft became an integral part of Scouting, and his intelligence and enthusiasm helped turn an idea into reality. Woodsman, illustrator, and naturalist, Daniel Carter Beard was a pioneering spirit of the Boy Scouts of America. Already 60 years old when the Boy Scouts of America was formed, he became a founder and merged it with his own boys' organization, the Sons of Daniel Boone. As the first national Scout commissioner, Beard helped design the original Scout uniform and introduced the elements of the First Class Scout badge. "Uncle Dan," as he was known to boys and leaders, will be remembered as a colorful figure dressed in buckskin who helped form Scouting in the United States. In 1909, Chicago publisher William D. Boyce lost his way in a dense London fog. A boy came to his aid and, after guiding the man, refused a tip, explaining that as a Scout he would not take a tip for doing a Good Turn. This gesture by an unknown Scout inspired a meeting with Robert Baden-Powell, the British founder of the Boy Scouts. As a result, William Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America on February, 8, 1910. He also created the Lone Scouts, which merged with the Boy Scouts of America in 1924. James E. West was appointed the first Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America in 1911. Although orphaned and physically handicapped, he had the perseverance to graduate from law school and become a successful attorney. This same determination provided the impetus to help build Scouting into the largest and most effective youth organization in the world. When he retired in 1943, Dr. West was recognized throughout the country as the true architect of the Boy Scouts of America. Source: 02-211 1995 Printing Fact Sheet External Communications 1325 West Walnut Hill lane P.O. Box 152079, Irving, Texas 75015-2079 Telephone 214-580-2000 Back Famous Eagle Scouts
FAMOUS SCOUTS, but not Eagles
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Great Rivers Council, BSA, 1203 Fay Street, Columbia, Missouri 65201 |
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