1972 and Wearing my “Store bought” Cub Scout cap in the Smokies.
I remember the Scout Leader coming to school when I was a young boy and talking to us about joining cub scouts. I was thrilled! Hiking, camping, crafts. It all sounded like a blast to me and something I could really get into. Heck, I even thought the uniforms looked cool. I’m not so sure about that part now, but at the time I thought they looked pretty amazing.
So, I took all the information home and begged and pleaded with my parents to let me join. But for various reasons they weren’t as excited about it as me and so I had to forget about it and move on to other things. Well, sort-of… See, back then JC Penney sold cub scout/boy scout merchandise in their stores and so using allowance money I bought myself a cub scout cap and canteen.
You’d think then that when my sons were old enough I would have enrolled them in scouts right away, but I didn’t. As an adult my interests revolved more around sports. Oh, my sons were involved in scouting, but except for making Pine Wood derby cars, my wife handled all of the “scouting stuff”.
All of that is about to change though. My oldest son is very close to becoming an Eagle Scout and only has another year or so before he “ages out”. My middle son has just crossed over from cub scouts to boy scouts and my youngest son will start Tiger Cubs next year. I’ve realized that I’ve been missing out on a lot of great experiences with them. So tonight, with some nervousness, I spoke to the scout leaders to learn what I need to do to become a scout leader myself and go to summer camp with my two older sons at the end of June.
I have always loved camping, being outdoors, and all that sort of stuff. So now, I have the opportunity to share that with my sons and the other boys. Plus, I know I will learn a lot as well. I can’t wait!
So, 36 years later it looks like I’m finally going to be a scout. Now where did I put that old canteen???
