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My Scouting Web Pages
What Is A Scout? |
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What Is A Scout?
Between the moment of becoming a Tenderfoot and that of an Eagle Scout recognition dinner is a fascinating creature called a Scout. Scouts come in assorted sizes, weights, colors, religions, and from almost every nation in the world. Scouts all have the same creed: to put the needs of others above their own at all times. Scouts are found everywhere: swimming, hiking, canoeing, praying, cooking, leading, and, best place of all, camping. Parents and pets love them, Scout leaders teach them, Cub Scouts and others respect them, and God protects them. A Scout is truth with pancake mix on his cheek, wisdom with a pine seedling in his hand ready to plant, resourcefulness with a splinter in his finger, and our hope of the future with the prospect of still another merit badge. Scouts are seldom observed at rest and keen competition rapidly increases their activity per minute. When there is an emergency or a job to be done, they are there. When it comes to fun and fellowship, Scouts never let an opportunity pass by. A Scout is a complex organism: He has the appetite of a tropical fish consuming brine shrimp, the curiosity of a research chemist, the energy of a perpetual motion machine, the foresight of a winning football coach, and can get any variety of jobs done, rarely using the same method twice. Scouts like hand-tooled leather projects, parades, camporees, stamps comememorating Scouts, any book on Baden-Powell, and the satisfaction of doing a Good Turn. They are not much for rainy campsites, broken Klondike derby sleds, litterbugs, and losing a handmade neckerchief slide. No one else is always on time for meals and never in need of imagination. No one else gets so much fun out of a paper drive and sending messages in code. No one else can cram into one pocket a jackknife, a compass, matches, an arrowhead, and 10 or more other miscellaneous items. A Scout is a wonderful creature. He is your example of citizenship, your hope of leadership for the future, and a boy growing quickly into manhood. He is an ever-questioning, trustworthy, athletic bundle of action. But when a Scout comes home with his proud parents after becoming an Eagle Scout and tells them he will continue in Scouting, we can only say to Baden-Powell and I the Scouting movement, "Thanks for the past, present, and future of Boy Scouts!"
– RUSSELL H. FUSS
Institutional Representative West Chester, PA
This frame ©
Scouting Magazine;
(11/69) used with permission.
Frame last updated: January 11, 2009
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