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December 11,
2009
Troop 454,
As we begin
the New Year I am reflecting on
why I feel so strongly about
the value of scouting. Two
experiences of the last few
months stand out to let me know
it’s ALL worth it.
This fall
during the Capitol march
I was introduced to the new
scoutmaster of a troop in
Sacramento. The outgoing
scoutmaster introduced me as one
of the original participants of
the Golden Empire Council’s
Troop Leader Development Course
(Now known as NYLT), way back in
1977. During this conversation
this scoutmaster mentioned
that his trip to the leadership
training was one of the turning
points in his life. He told
the story of how he went away as
a young scout to this week-long
training and was unprepared for
the early summer snow storm (6
inches of snow the first week of
June!), unprepared to cook his
own meals and uncomfortable in a
patrol of strangers. He made up
his mind to give up and go home,
and so approached the SPL and
requested that he be allowed to
call home to his mom. That SPL
took the time to talk to him and
convince him it was a bad idea
to give up. That was the summer
of 1979. I was the 17-year-old
Senior Patrol Leader that had a
part in changing that boy’s
life. I had no idea what a
profound difference I had made
until now.
This year
was the 30th anniversary of my
Eagle court of honor. I was
blessed with the opportunity to
be the master of ceremonies at
the Eagle court of honor of my
old troop. To compound the
honor, two of my nephews were
being awarded the Rank of Eagle
Scout. As I stood on the stage
spouting off about what a great
honor it was to be there, I
looked out into the audience and
noticed that some of the adults
that changed my life by giving
of their time to scouting so
many years ago were sitting
there, this time for their
grandchildren. Thirty years
later they are still making a
difference. Like a pebble in
a pond the advice and guidance
they gave me is continuing to
spread in the way I affect the
youth of today.
I want to
challenge every adult volunteer
and every parent to think about
what you can do to change a life.
I want to challenge every
SCOUT who can think of a
time when an older scout
encouraged you, to encourage
and guide a younger scout in
return. Give back to scouting
more than scouting has given you.
You may never
really know all you have done
but know that you have had
the opportunity to make the
world a better place for
generations to come. The
question is, what do you plan to
do with that opportunity?
On my honor, I will do my best…
Scoutmaster Elvis
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