By Mike Pound
mpound@joplinglobe.com
I wasn’t much of a Boy Scout.
I’m not a fan of long walks. I don’t like cold weather. Sleeping on the ground makes my back hurt. I can’t tie a useful knot to save my life. And even though I earned some sort of compass merit badge, I still can get lost in a parking lot. I once led of group of fellow Scouts from St. Xavier’s Catholic Church in Junction City, Kan., in a dirt-clod fight with some Scouts from another troop. My friend Eric Loeb got hit in the head with an incoming dirt clod and had to go to the hospital.
I was a lousy Boy Scout, is what I’m saying.
But despite all of that, I had a good time in Scouting, and I did learn a few things along the way. I learned, for example, how to tie a granny knot. It’s not a useful knot, but it’s a knot. I learned how to cook a meal without using utensils, and I learned to not share a tent with Jimmy Hecker on campfire chili night.
Life lessons, every one.
Because I was a lousy Boy Scout, I tend to appreciate the guys who aren’t lousy Scouts. I mean, the Scout leaders who I knew did try to make me a good Scout, and they did throw a lot of useful information my way. It wasn’t their fault that the useful information went in one of my ears and right out the other.
This year, Boy Scouts across the country are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the organization. It’s a pretty big deal. The list of guys who have spent quality time as Boy Scouts and then gone on to do great things is a long one, as is the list of adults who have generously volunteered hours of their time to mentor those Scouts.
On Saturday, members of the West District of the Ozark Trails Council of Boy Scouts of America will kick off their yearlong anniversary celebration with a parade. At 9:30 a.m., Scouts from the district’s five-county area (Jasper, Newton, McDonald, Lawrence and Barry) will gather at 15th and Main streets in Joplin. Beginning at 10 a.m., they will march down Main Street to Landreth Park.
Richard Sapp, the West District Boy Scout chairman, said that once the parade ends, the Scouts will gather around the amphitheater in the park. Ron Richard, speaker of the Missouri House, and state Sen. Gary Nodler will issue House and Senate proclamations.
Sapp said there are about 1,300 registered Scouts in the district, and he’s expecting a fairly strong turnout for the parade.
Joplin has a fairly long Scouting history, Sapp said. Boy Scout Troop 10, which meets at First Presbyterian Church at 502 S. Pearl Ave., is the second oldest continuously chartered Scout troop in the state. The troop was started in 1917, but, because of World War I, it did not apply for a charter until 1918. It was officially granted a new charter in 1919 and has been going strong ever since.
Most folks will tell you that fewer kids opt to get involved in Scouting these days than when I was a kid. I guess that’s true. I guess in today’s world, there are so many other demands on a kid’s time that Scouting might get lost in the shuffle.
I think that’s a shame. I mean, I’m not so sure that every kid out there needs to set his sights on becoming an Eagle Scout, but I’m also not so sure that a few years of Scouting wouldn’t help a kid learn a few things. Hey, even for a lousy Scout like me, overnight camp-outs were fun.
If you’re interested in joining or if you would like to volunteer, you can dial up the district offices at 624-4168. And if you are around Saturday morning, you might wander over to Main Street and take in the parade.
Keep in mind that if I were in charge of the parade, we would all get lost.
Did I mention I was a lousy Boy Scout?
