Tuesday, August 18, 2009

So why?

You might think I would have an illustrious and triumphant personal history with scouting. It would make sense.

You would be wrong.

I was an indifferent kind of Girl Scout, moving up from the Daisies into the Brownies and the Junior Girl Scouts with little fanfare and accompanied by most of the other girls in my elementary school. I liked the crafts (at one point making a little candy cane holder out of fake fur and googly eyes that holds a cherished place in my heart as Fweep Fweep the Christmas Bat), and was a poor camper, which hardly mattered, because so was the rest of my troop. We would haul two, three, four camp stoves into the woods with us, making needlessly elaborate dinners (a Chinese-themed camping trip once involved wonton soup and stir-fried beef. In the woods. Seriously). We’d arrive at a drive-up campsite, unload the cars, cook, eat, sleep, and get up the next day and go home. I’m pretty sure my dad and I once left a father/daughter camping trip in order to avoid a hike.

Anyway, the bulk of my experience of any real, serious scouting enthusiasm comes from two sources: my father’s mid-60s Philmont belt buckle, which I wore proudly all through graduate school and which remains the coolest article of clothing I own, and my grandfather, who was once awarded a Silver Beaver (don’t laugh) and whose store sold scouting equipment of all types.

My grandfather is (at least in part) the real inspiration for this. He’s a former WW2 pilot living in Florida, and the man is a machine. He swims a half a mile every day. Two or three years ago he challenged my best friend and me to a race and won. If a lifetime of scouting did this, I want a part of it.

How about you? Were you a scout? Did you stick with it? Quit? What happened?
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8 comments:

  1. pdtolerAugust 18, 2009 at 9:45 PM

    Go, Emily! I was involved in a now-defunct co-ed version of the Boy Scouts in the 1970s. I've never quite gotten over the fact that they wouldn't let me try for Eagle.

    Cheers,
    Pamela

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  2. scoutmaster emilyAugust 18, 2009 at 11:23 PM

    Hi Pamela!

    I'd heard of the Explorer Scouts (which both my husband and sister-in-law were in), but not any other form of co-ed troop. I'm so curious!

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  3. Tasha AlexanderAugust 18, 2009 at 11:31 PM

    What a fun idea!

    I wanted desperately to be a Girl Scout when I was young (I think what I really wanted was the uniform), but there wasn't a troop at my school. By the time my parents managed to find one I could join, we were all at the age of becoming better Boy Scouts than Girl Scouts, and after a camping trip where two of the girls were caught hanging out with boys from another group, the troop was disbanded in a most inglorious fashion......

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  4. scoutmaster emilyAugust 19, 2009 at 10:32 AM

    Thanks, Tasha!

    I seem to remember a similar event taking place at a co-ed jamboree (who thought this was a good idea?) at the Daniel Boone Homestead. I was such a dorky kid, though, that I was totally unaware of anything happening and just thought that maybe the boy scouts in question would help us with the orienteering competition I was so excited for. psssh.

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  5. Katie AlenderAugust 19, 2009 at 12:40 PM

    I was a Brownie and a Junior Girl Scout... I really wanted to be a Cadet, because I loved (and still love) the word "Cadet." Alas, my troop never made that leap. I do remember two of my friends in high school who made it all the way through Eagle Scout. They wore their uniforms to school and everything, which definitely made them stand out at an art school. (Picture Boy Scouts in "Fame.")

    Good luck on your journey! I love this idea. I hope you'll give out mini-challenges and help the rest of us test our mettle.

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  6. scoutmaster emilyAugust 19, 2009 at 3:27 PM

    I LOVE your idea, Katie! As I move into this, I'm definitely going to try to give some mini-challenges. Maybe not the grow-a-field-of-corn kind of challenge, but a few small things, definitely! Thanks!

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  7. Kate!August 28, 2009 at 11:15 AM

    I LOVE THIS by the way. To answer your question, I was a Girl Scout for over 10 years. I got my Silver Award but didn't have time senior year of HS to work on my Gold Award (The GS equivalent of the Eagle Scout). I went to summer camp (you signed up individually and met random people, not a troop thing) EVERY SUMMER and loved it, I was def. the most enthusiastic camper of my troop. They were all wusses. ;oD I love campfire songs. I love banana boats. I love camp songs (Banana Slug! Sung to the tune of "Twist and Shout". Oh, banana slug... second only to the Cider Song, which I will teach you. Yes.) I was a badge-getting FIEND in GS. As a junior, I ran out of space on my vest for badges. (you need a vest, those sashes, while cute, are for amateurs, you can only fit like 10 badges on them) The only badge I didn't get, I think, was the Pet Care badge, which I maintain I only do not have because my parents wouldn't let me have a pet.

    But my real reason for commenting is this:
    "candy cane holder out of fake fur and googly eyes that holds a cherished place in my heart as Fweep Fweep the Christmas Bat"

    Pictures or it didn't happen.

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  8. Khi D'halaDecember 23, 2009 at 11:30 AM

    Happy Holidays, Emily, and good luck on your making your goal! I stumbled across your page this morning and now it'll be something I track daily, along with the "Man Scout" blog (a 40-something dad, working to earn his modern day Eagle-equivalent). I love these personal goals, and wish you the best!

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