Year End Reflections on Boy Scout Service Projects

As 2011 comes to a close, it is a good time to reflect on accomplishments in the past year and goals for the New Year.  Boy Scout Troop 11 has a number of accomplishments to reflect on as it sets goals for the New Year.

Most people think of scouting as a camping and hiking centered activity for boys and young men.  What many people are not familiar with are the primary goals of scouting: character development, citizenship and fitness.  Scouts are taught these values through the scout oath and the scout law, but the values are developed through all of scouting's activities, including the patrol method (teamwork) and leadership skills, often in a camping and hiking environment.

Scouting came to the United States in 1910 as the direct result of a good deed performed by a boy scout in England for a traveling American businessman.  W. D. Boyce, a newspaperman and entrepreneur, was in London on business.  Trying to return to his hotel on a very foggy night, he became lost.  He asked a young boy for directions, and the boy led him to his hotel.  When Boyce attempted to give the boy a tip, the boy told him that boy scouts did not take tips for good deeds.  Boyce was so impressed that he asked the young man about the boy scouts.

Boyce visited the scouting headquarters in London.  Impressed with the scouting concept, on returning to the US, he started the Boy Scouts of America program in the US in 1910.  "Do a good deed daily" became the scout motto and public service became an essential element of the scouting program.  Scouts are required to perform "community service" to advance through scouting's ranks.  Eagle scouts must develop, plan, direct and carry out a major project to earn the Eagle Scout rank.  These projects typically involve more than 100 man hours of work.  Nothing encourages a young scout to be public service minded more than when a complete stranger, passing a project in process, asks what is going on and, on learning that it is a volunteer project, thanks the young scouts for their efforts.

Troop 11 has a long history of scouts earning the Eagle Scout rank and performing noteworthy public service projects.  Two plaques hanging in the Community Room at St. Stephens Church commemorate more than sixty scouts who have earned the Eagle Scout rank over the last fifty years.  During this period, many service projects have been performed by scouts from Troop11 benefiting the town and many local churches and nonprofits.  Among these projects have been simple ones, like helping St. Stephen's Church to unload a truck load of pumpkins for their annual pumpkin sale or helping the Fire Department with the Fourth of July Harbor Illumination. There have also been symbolic projects like working with the Veterans Agent to clean and restore the grave markers of veterans at Waterside Cemetery.  There have also been many public safety projects such as the recent checking for the clear and correct numbering of 1500 homes in Marblehead for emergency responders and marking telephone poles with the location of fire hydrants for easy location in winter conditions.  The town has also been benefited by many service projects including restoring benches in Crocker Park and the Pavilion at Devereaux Beach.  There have also been numerous conservation projects performed with the Marblehead Conservancy to improve trails and other resources.  A trail behind Seaside Park was recently improved and partially relocated to eliminate muddy areas and erosion.  In 2010, my son constructed a trail, including a sixty foot boardwalk, in the woods near the Village Street School to complete a trail loop in the area for the Marblehead Conservancy.

During 2011, scouts from Troop 11 have performed eight service projects, putting in more than 815 man hours of work.  These projects have beneficiaries not always recognized: the scouts themselves who, by working on these projects, have learned the value of public service and will be better people, contributing to a better world because of the lessons and values they have learned in scouting.  The next time you encounter scouts working on a public service project, you too can help with the development of the character and values of these young people, with a simple "thank you" so that you help them to appreciate and recognize the value placed on such public service by the public.