By Derek Spellman

dspellman@joplinglobe.com

In the early days of the Boy Scouts of America, says Brian Karch, Scouts used a map and compass to navigate their way outdoors. A good deed might have been stopping a runaway horse.

Times have changed since the organization came into being exactly a century ago in England; scouting arrived in the United States a year later, in 1910.

Scouts still learn how to use a map and compass today, but now they also become familiar with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. Their good deeds have evolved, too. Instead of stopping runaway horses, some scouts go door-to-door collecting food for the needy, visiting nursing homes, and learning how to perform CPR.

“We’ve modernized,” said Karch, director of the Joplin district of the Ozark Trails Council, the regional Boy Scouts organization.

Locally, Scouts will spend the next few weeks celebrating their role in area communities with a variety of activities.

The Mo-Kan Area Council was founded in Joplin in 1916, and the oldest continuously charted troop in the region, Troop 10, with First Presbyterian Church in Joplin, was founded in 1919, according to Richard Sapp, district chairman.

Scouts will mark the event today with services at area churches that are chartered partners. The partners provide the Scouts with space for meetings, for example, while the Scouts sometimes help with service projects put on by the partners.

Other events in the coming weeks will include each pack’s annual “Blue & Gold” banquet and the Klondike Derby on Feb. 20-22, when scouts will be camping outdoors.

The Ozark Trails Council, which covers Southwest Missouri and extreme Southeast Kansas and includes Joplin and Springfield, has 3,923 adult leaders and 10,717 youths associated with its programs.

“The ideas and values found in the Scout oath and law are timeless, and they form the foundation of who we are as a community and a nation,” noted Sapp. “This anniversary is a chance for Scouts and volunteers all over the country to show their respect and dedication to such an important American tradition.”

Events today

Several of the local Boy Scout troops’ chartered partners will have services today, including: 9:30 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church in Joplin; 8:30 a.m. at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Joplin; 10:30 a.m. at Byers United Methodist Church in Joplin; 10:45 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church in Webb City; 10:30 a.m. at Neosho United Methodist Church; and 10:30 a.m. United Methodist Church in Carl Junction.