Scoutmaster Podcast 178

And now the old Scoutmaster. We interrupt this podcast to bring you this: Scout physicists at the large Baden Collider in Zern, Switzerland, have determined that the frequency of level ground diminishes in direct proportion to the time left to find a campsite. Welcome back to your regularly scheduled podcast. Sure, I'm glad I donated to building that large Baden Collider in Zern.

It's amazing what those scout physicists come up with, isn't it?

Hey, this is podcast number 178.. Well, welcome back to the Scoutmaster podcast. This is Clarke Green. Oh, let's see, Let's look in the mailbag. Wow, The mailbag's a little thin this week, but it's July and everybody's off to scout camp.

So we hope to be here in front of you soon. And just before I do read this, let me remind you that the whole point of this podcast- now I think we could safely say the longest running weekly scouting podcast, I think we could safely say that- is to have a conversation. I love to talk, of course, But I like to hear from you. You can get in touch with me by emailing Clark C-L-A-R-K-E at scoutmastercgcom. Go visit the site scoutmastercgcom and follow the link to contact me if you like. But be in touch.

We love to have your questions and comments. I'd like to hear what's happening out there in the world of scouting, So there's an open invitation to be in touch.

This week we did hear from Mike Malone. Now, Mike is the author of many books, including one of my favorites- 4%, which is a very authoritative Eagle Scout history, And I'll have a link on how you can find that book attached to the post that contains this podcast. Mike was kind enough to write about my book.

How about that? Yes, that's right.

I now have a real book with covers and pages and everything. And he wrote: I ordered the book on Amazon and received it just a few days ago. Terrific job. I got myself laughing reading it, not just because of your cogent and witty writing, but also because I'm currently laboring away on a big new book And I realized you put more wisdom into a single tweet than I've been able to manage in 20 or 30 pages. You're truly one of scouting's treasures.

Well, Mike, thank you so much. I'm blushing. I really do appreciate your support And I'm really glad you enjoyed the book. The book, by the way, is called Thoughts on Scouting: 150 sayings about scouting. That first appeared as tweets and Facebook updates and stuff like that, And it was actually Mike's idea. He said y'all to take the tweets that you're doing and put them in a book.

It was a great idea And now it's a for real book. There'll be a link on how to get the book in the post that contains this podcast. It's early July. A lot of people are at camp right now. A lot of people have gotten back to camp and are kind of in recovery mode right, And this week a lot of people are headed to the National Jamboree And I'm sure that there are many more of you that have plans to head out to high adventure bases and things like that. We still haven't gotten to summer camp yet.

I leave in about- oh I think it's about- two weeks- For a week at one of my favorite places on the Phase of the Earth camp, horseshoe. We're taking 30 or so scouts and I think it'll be a great time And I am really, really looking forward to it.

We'll be back from that for a week and then we're off to Ontario, Canada, for a week of high adventure canoeing up in Algonquin Provincial Park. So quite a full summer. Of course, September is going to be here before we all know it. Tell me what you did at camp this summer. Tell me what you're up to, Tell me where you're going- high adventure wise- And love to hear from folks who are going to be attending this year's National Jamboree.

So this week just a short visit with you. I want to talk a little bit in Scoutmastership in seven minutes or less.

I got a couple of posts that were on the blog last week and you know that's going to take up the rest of the podcast. So let's get started

Scoutmastership in seven minutes or less. So the story goes like this: Wyn Davis is an author and he wrote a book called Men of Shiff and we've talked about it on the blog and on the podcast before And once again I'll make sure that there's a link so that you can find that book. Go to scoutmastercgcom. Look at the post that contains this podcast, Podcast 178.. You're going to find links to all kinds of stuff. I was looking at the website that Wyn set up for the book and he had on there this really interesting little artifact of scouting history: A video of Green Bar Bill Hillcourt- Green Bar Bill William Hillcourt.

He authored many editions of the Scout Handbook and the Patrol Leaders Handbook and the original field book- A central figure in scouting for many, many years. He devoted his entire life to it. I was really thrilled to find this clip, which was from the early 80s, and it was just a video that somebody shot of a visit that Bill had paid to Florida. He was getting ready to go talk to a wood badge session, Invited some scouts and some leaders to come.

It's just a discussion they were having, But in that discussion Bill says some very interesting things, and I think the one that I centered on is: what exactly is the promise of scouting? What are we doing?

You know, if anybody is going to be an expert on that, it's going to be Bill Hillcourt. He's the guy who literally wrote the book right, And when we're talking about him, we're talking about the entire history of scouting, all the way back to Baden Powell.

He was quite a bit younger than Baden Powell, but he knew Baden Powell very well and he actually wrote a biography of Baden Powell. I think if we're going to look for an authoritative source as to what scouting ought to be, I think Bill is going to be the man. I'm going to play for you something that Bill said: Scoutmasters should be trained to make every single promise on page 9.. Come true in the lives of your kids.

So he said there, Scoutmasters should be trained to make every single promise on page 9.. Come true in the life of your kids, right? That's what he said.

Well, what's page 9 is he referring to? Here's a little bit more history. In the late 70s Bill Hillcourt came out of retirement and volunteered his time to rewrite the Scout Handbook. In the early 70s the BSA had initiated some program changes and things that didn't work really well. Bill didn't like them.

He said: I want to write the Scout Handbook again. I want to get you guys back on track. He came out of retirement, spent a year or two writing the Handbook. What he's talking about here is page 9 of that edition of the Scout Handbook. That is the 9th edition that was first published in 1979..

Let me read that page to you, okay, And it's titled Your Life as a Scout. You are an American boy and before long you're going to be an American man. It's important to America and to yourself that you become a citizen of fine character, physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.

So I think we can all agree with that. That's a really great goal to have. Bill went on to say this: He said, Boy Scouting will help you become that kind of citizen, but also Scouting will give you fellowship and fun. The fellowship and the fun, folks, is the way that you become that kind of citizen.

So how does that happen? Bill goes on to explain it. He says this: Yes, it's fun to be a Boy Scout. It's fun to go hiking and camping with all your best friends, to swim, to dive, to paddle a canoe, to wield an axe, to follow the footsteps of the pioneers who led the way through the wilderness, to stare into the glowing embers of a campfire and to dream of the wonders of the life that is in store for you. It's also fun to learn to walk noiselessly through the woods, to stalk close to grazing deer without being noticed, to bring a bird close to you by imitating its call. It's fun to find your way cross-country by map and compass, to make a meal when you're hungry, to take a safe swim when you are not, to make yourself comfortable for the night and attend under the stars.

In Scouting you become an outdoorsman. But Scouting is far more than fun in the outdoors, hiking and camping, Scouting is a way of life. Scouting is growing into responsible manhood, learning to be of service to others. The Scout Oath and the Scout Law are your guides to citizenship. They tell you what is expected of a scout. They point out your duties.

The Scout motto is: be prepared. Prepare to take care of yourself and to help other people in need. The Scout slogan is: do a good turn daily Together. The motto and the slogan spell out your ability and your willingness to serve. Your life as a Scout will make you strong and self-reliant. You will learn Scoutcraft skills that will benefit you as you grow.

In time you will develop the skills of leadership as well. So pitch in, swing into action In your patrol and in your troop. You will have some of the best times of your life. That is what Bill wrote on page 9.. I'll remind you again what he said: Scoutmasters should be trained to make every single promise on page 9 come true in the life of Scouts. What he was doing, at least in my way of thinking, was reaffirming that Scouting was not something to approach formulaically through a system of academics, but that it was a progressive developmental journey through experiences in the outdoors.

On page 9, he lays out the sum total of what he had learned through some 60 years of Scouting and his definition of what Scouting should be and what every Scouter should be aimed at creating. What he doesn't talk about on page 9 is almost as important as what he does mention. Nowhere on page 9 does he mention being an Eagle Scouter, even suggest the subject of advancement. Only parenthetically does he refer to leadership skills. Of course, neither advancement to Eagle nor developing leadership skills are bad things in themselves- Certainly not. But they have become wildly over-emphasized and are preoccupation with them shoulders out the other essential things about Scouting.

Is the most important thing about Scouting the outdoor program? Yes, Yes, it is, But not because the skills of the outdoors are particularly important, but because the process of learning these skills and the process of preparing for and participating in outdoor experiences as a member of your patrol are important.

They are in fact so important that Hillcourt says making those processes a reality is the only thing a Scoutmaster should be concerned with. When Scouts do the things that Scouts do, when they go camping, when they get outdoors, when they do all the wonderful things that Bill pictured here on page 9, they advance. They can't help it. They have to advance because they're doing the things that Scouts do. Let's remember this: When Scouts do the things Scouts do, they advance. When Scouts do the things Scouts do, they learn how to lead.

They learn how to lead because Scouts do things in a patrol, And to have a patrol go out and do things, you can't have an adult take care of the patrol. It has to be a scout, It has to be a patrol leader. And when you put a bunch of patrols together in a troop, you can't have an adult take care of the troop. You have to have a senior patrol leader who has to, along with the patrol leaders, develop and plan and present a program of activities.

So when Scouts do that- that's what Scouts do- they learn to lead. And when Scouts do what Scouts do, they achieve the aims of scouting. And our aim is, just like Bill said, to become a citizen of fine character, physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.

So let's think about this: When Scouts do the things that Scouts do, they advance, they learn how to lead. And all of that, that big process, achieves the aims of scouting.

Now, when Scouts do requirements and when they go to merit badge classes and when they go to leadership training, they get badges and certificates. Not bad, Everybody likes a badge. I've got a whole wall full of certificates somewhere.

Right, But that's not the aim, is it? When Scouts do the things that Scouts do- and they do all that great stuff on page nine, they'll get the badges and certificates anyway. It's a matter of focus and aim.

Are you getting your Scouts outdoors? Are they getting outdoors all the time?

Is that what everybody's driven around? Are they doing the things that Scouts do in the Scout way?

Are they planning and presenting and leading all of their activities? They can't help but advance. They can't help but learn to lead and they can't help but to achieve the aims of scouting. Greenbar Bill, good old Bill Hillcourt, dedicated his entire life to reminding us to get the horse in front of the cart. If you watch the entire video that I'm talking about, you get some idea of the clarity and intensity of this guy in his 80. Again and again he returns to the way scouting works.

He cajoles and questions and encouraged the Scouts and adults in the room that night to get it right. Go back and read page nine again. You'll find it right there at scoutmastercgcom. And in the words of Greenbar Bill: pitch in, Let's swing into action.