Many leaders started as scouts
American publisher William D. Boyce was on business in London in
1909 when he became lost on a foggy evening. A boy wearing a
uniform came to his aid and led him to his destination. Boyce was
surprised when his guide refused a tip until the youth said he was
a Boy Scout and could not accept money for doing a good deed.
Boyce went to the Scout headquarters later and inquired about
the movement. He learned that Lord Robert Baden-Powell had started
it a few years earlier to teach boys the benefits of helping others
and improving themselves.
Many leaders started as scouts
American publisher William D. Boyce was on business in London in 1909 when he became lost on a foggy evening. A boy wearing a uniform came to his aid and led him to his destination. Boyce was surprised when his guide refused a tip until the youth said he was a Boy Scout and could not accept money for doing a good deed.
Boyce went to the Scout headquarters later and inquired about the movement. He learned that Lord Robert Baden-Powell had started it a few years earlier to teach boys the benefits of helping others and improving themselves.
Upon his return to the United States he talked with other like-minded men. In February of 1910 the Boy Scouts of America was established.
In the 98 years since, millions of American boys have been Scouts, some starting as Cub Scouts at 8, and becoming full-fledged Boy Scouts by 12. Many have become Eagle Scouts, involving earning a great number of merit badges for many skills. The Girl Scouts of America was established later, with its own stages of progress, starting with Brownies.
The movement was based on being physically fit, morally straight and mentally alert. Through adult leaders who volunteered to coordinate their activities, Scouts have become a tremendous positive force in their respective communities.
But Scouting is more than winning merit badges and helping others. Boys and girls join the movement because they want to be part of groups that have fun. The outdoors is a large backdrop for them because they look forward to camping, swimming, boating, hiking and learning about wildlife and ecology.
Scouts also learn to work with and respect others, self-confidence and responsibility.
John F. Kennedy was the first former Scout to become president of the United States, and Gerald Ford was the first Eagle Scout – that rank earned by only two to three percent of all boys in Scouting – to attain the highest office.
Others who earned Eagle status include baseball legend Hank Aaron, astronauts Neil Armstrong and James Lovell, presidential cabinet members William Bennett and Robert Gates, and self-made billionaires H. Ross Perot and Steven Spielberg.
Two former Cub Scouts were together on the same platform on Jan. 20, 2001, as William J. Clinton watched George W. Bush take the oath of office to succeed him as president.
Nor have former Girl Scouts been idle in later life. Queen Elizabeth II of England is among that number, as are Janet Reno, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Nancy Reagan, Grace Kelly, Shirley Temple Black, Dinah Shore, Rosalyn Carter, Erma Bombeck, Katie Couric and Barbara Walters.
Its importance to members was summed up many years ago by an eight-year-old girl who had just transferred to a new school and was asked to write something about herself. She wrote: “My great-grandfather (William Howard Taft) was president of the United States. My grandfather (Robert A. Taft) is a United States Senator from Ohio. My father (William H. Taft III) is Ambassador to Ireland. I am a Brownie.”
