Post edited 5:35 pm – June 2, 2010 by Veretax

Great Show Shawn.

I've been going through a bit of a trek similar but not exactly the same. After earning and being presented my eagle a year after it was actually earned (moving away made it difficult and I wanted the troop I earned it in to award it), I tried to get on with an explorer post while at College, but their meeting nights conflicted with Chemistry test night and so I had to give it up. Fast Forward to 2001, I graduated in december, Through bad timing, there wasn't a job waiting for me, so my wife and I were invited to live with my mother in law. (I know, sounds like bad news, but I love my mother in law and she has been nothing but supportive as we've grown through the adversity as a family).

In Any case, 2001 became 2002 and when things looked like I might be waiting a while for real work (while doing the Temp circuit), I thought about trying to find something I could do to keep myself from being bored to tears. My thought was getting involved in tthe Pioneer District here in Buckskin Council. Suffice it to say, though I tried to find a way to get involved at the district level, I missed a few contacts, and meetings, and then had to give it up again due to a case of Pregnancy (And happy were we).

So I got offered my first true blue job in my field about a week before the baby was born. Told them I'd be willing to start a week to 2 weeks after the baby was delivered, but scouting kind of drifted from my mind for the next two years. Fast Forward to October 2005, I got offered a temporary contract position here with the promise of possibly 6 months of work, but no guarantee they'd hire me full time. We ended up going to a church that had a scout unit they chartered, but I just didn't feel confident enough to jump in and start something I wasn't sure I could give my all and finish.

Six months later, I was finally brought on permanently, and in the late summer I started asking about the Unit. Turns out I was too late. The Chartered Organization apparently had some discord or problem in attracting adult leaders and had decided not to re up the charter. When I asked why, they said they hadn't enough help. To which I asked, did you ask the Congregation for help? No, they hadn't really done that. I guess the expected it to be self sustaining with as little support as possible, yet hoping to reap the benefits for their organization some how.

So was the status quo until this year. The town had no pack or troop, and the closest unit was in another district (which I did not know at the time), and really not in a good place to travel back and forth for meetings, so I looked for other ways I could help out my commumnity. I got involved in Upward Youth Soccer as a Coach (largely because someone backed out and I thought all the kids needed to be represented properly), and then did the same in 2009. It was there I meant several of the future leaders, adults, and kids in our pack.

While I'm not entirely sure of how the ball got rolling in trying to reestablish a scouting presence here in our county, I do know how I became involved. It was simple, and to the point, a picture of the boys and their cubmaster printed with a caption in our town n ewspaper. And the best part? The Cubmaster's contact number was listed. I Called her up and said hey I see there's a new Pack in town, and proceeded to get the lay of the land. They had just started in February I think it was.

Well, I asked her what age the cubs had to be to join because I was a little fuzzy on when I joined when I as a cub, and because they changed things at some point as well. Great, my son would be a wolf because he's working on 2nd Grade Material. Good, when's the next meeting, and oh by the way, I'm an Eagle Scout out of Troop 69 from Fort Ashby, WV, I've been looking into getting back into Scouting as an Adult Leader, is there anything I can do to help?

Well, it's been a confusing couple of months. I went from a concerned parent, to an Assistant Den Leader, to know Assistant Cubmaster, (Although I technically am an Assistant DL right now as adult leadership is something we are lacking a bit, I hope to solve this problem at some point. In any case, I made it clear at our last Parents meeting that hey, Failure is not an Option. I'm in this for the long haul, whatever it takes to get us set solidly on a firm foundation, I want this unit to last for the boys who are in it now and those who will come after.

We still have a ways to go as we get trained and informed on all the nuances of running a pack, but I tell you what, I'm having some of the most enjoyable times I've had as a Scout(er) since when I was a boy. I can't believe how much I really missed the program of Scouting till I came back, and I don't regret it for a second.

Thanks for the Show Shawn. Much Appreciated

BTW to anyone not sure how to attract people, adults or kids, publicity helps a lot, just remember to list a contact number so the willing parties can be brought in to help :D
-Tim

I hadn't realized that I paused it and missed the last bit about alternatives to scout camp when finances aren't there. I can tell you my scout troop for three years in a row did this. We went with a 4 Day Camp instead (Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun morn) At someone's farm, where they had a pavillion we could eat under, and latrines, I'm sorry they call them 'out houses', and running water available as well. I think one year we did a Save our Streams service project. Worked on Aviation and Emergency Prepardness badges (one of the dads had his pilots license). Another year we packed our equipment onto a truck and then biked a backway to a stream early the first morning, then biked back from the camp to our meeting place the last day. Another day we back packed it in. We had a lot of fun, planned our own activities, and focused on things that we wanted to work on. Of course the larger your unit the more tricky this could be I guess. We were pretty small not more than 8 boys I think at the time.