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I recently learned of a new Scouting blog authored by Jeff Freeman:
So I’ve thought about a blog for a long time. Either as a representative of my pack, or now of the troop I’m in. Or even for my daughters Daisies.
I’ve dabbled with twitter, but never kept at it posting. But with a blog I can share more things I think. So let’s mix them all together. Just about every day, a little bit of Scouting in one fashion or another goes on. So let’s share some of it with the world.
As the story unfolds we learn:
There’s three kids running around our house. Two boys, let’s call them Thing 1 and Thing 2 (not very original, I know…), and a girl, she’ll have to be Thing 3.
Now all three of the Things are scouts. We have a Boy Scout (1st Class), a Webelos, and a Daisy. And they are all having great fun in their respective programs. It makes quite proud.
I was a Boy Scout. Eagle Scout class of 1992. My dad was any Eagle as well (class of 1954? I’ll have to check). My brother was a scout too.
The ideal of “servant leader” was instilled in me early I guess when I was patrol leader or SPL. So, well over five years ago when Thing 1 was just about finishing his Tiger year, the pack needed a Committee Chair. For a couple of months the Cubmaster would make the announcement at the pack meetings. I felt it was my duty to step up and give back to the program that formed part of my inner being. How hard could it be? Not much different from managing a project at work, right? “Only an hour a month” they told me.
Well you probably know where that leads. Being committee chair was alright. A lot of work, you’re in the thick of it in a Cub Pack, helping to make sure everything gets done. I learned a lot about the adult leader side of scouting in those first two years. When Thing 2 was of Cub Scout age, I moved to be a Den Leader. And then Thing 1 became a Boy Scout, and it wasn’t long before I couldn’t just sit back and was on the troop committee. He had a great Scoutmaster but his sons had all Eagled. It wasn’t long before he was ready to pass on the torch. I guess I fit the bill for a replacement. So here we are in yet another new role.
We’ll enjoy the journey together. Oh yeah, and there’s that little Daisy too…
Over these past few years as I have corresponded with Scouters from all over the world I’ve learned we share many things in common. We encounter the same challenges and share the same triumphs, we are all connected to each other by Scouting – it’s really quite something!
A few brave souls like Jeff start blogging or otherwise regularly sharing their journey online. Take a moment and visit Jeff’s Scouting blog. It’s good reading, and another connection that confirms we are all in this together.
Thanks for the plug Clarke!