BOY SCOUTING

I tell my patients who are in Boy Scouts that I have great admiration for them doing so in Orange County, because I think it is much harder to be a scout today in sprawling suburbia with all the organized activities to choose from.

In Norman, Oklahoma in the 50s it was easy to go just a mile or two in any direction and be in woods and hills and places that were very conducive to scouting. And mom's didn't work and had time to be den leaders, and dad's didn't have to commute but a few minutes to work and had more time to give to scouting. My dad became involved in scouting when I started as a Cub Scout and remained involved with scouting throughout his professional life, receiving the Silver Beaver award for distinguished service to Boy Scouts. I think one of the reasons he gave his time for so many years was that there was no scouting when he grew up and he really appreciated the values that scouting promoted in young boys.

I can't remember much about Cub scouts except that the uniforms were blue and yellow and we met at our house and made craft things. I seem to remember that there were two Den mother's and so actually we met at two mom’s houses.

When I became a Boy Scout I joined Troop 242 which met in the basement of the First Presbyterian Church on University Blvd. roughly half way between the north entrance to the University of Oklahoma and McFarllin Methodist church (where we went to church) The basement as I remember, had a concrete floor and we had cabinets and storage chests to keep out equipment in.

We often went on overnight camp-outs in the nearby areas, probably on some kind farmer’s property. I recall buying camping equipment at a "real" army surplus store - mess kits, canteens, duffle bags, etc. We learned to make mattresses of leaves under our sleeping bags, start fires with flint and steel, and cook both over and under the coals. Sometimes the food got a little charred and sometimes our fingers got a little singed, but the food always tasted good because we were always starved by the time we finally go it ready. It was in scouts that I went on my first snipe hunt (for those who aren’t familiar: A newcomer is taken deep into the woods late at night and told to make a clucking noise while holding a large sack. The others, who are in on the joke, say that they will sneak away and then walk back towards the newcomer, thereby driving snipes towards the bag holder. The frightened snipes, they say, will be attracted to the clucking noise and easily caught in the bag. The newcomer is then simply left in the dark forest, holding the bag, to eventually realize his gullibility and find his way home or back to camp.)

On Saturday, Feb. 9, 1957 a fire occurred at the Presbyterian church and I remember helping to clean up but I cannot remember if it damaged our scouting stuff or not. Evidently the repairs were made quickly because things were back in shape by the time of my Eagle Court of Honor on April 30^th. That means I received my Eagle rank at 13 years old which pretty much means that I was doing it for someone else – my parents.

In the summer of 1957 I was privileged to go to the Boy Scout Jamboree in Valley Forge. My brother Mark barely made it into scouts in time to go also.

We went by train to Valley Forge, which I remember mostly for the mass of people and the amount of dust which wasn’t so great for my asthma. We toured after the Jamboree and went to New York City, Detroit and some other places. I still have some of the photos taken from the ferry ride in NYC.

Another summer, we went to New Mexico and camped in the mountains. We visited Philmont Scout Ranch and saw the swimming pool and the Phillip’s home. They had built the pool and filled it with mountain water. It was so cold that only one person dove in and they immediately stopped using it for swimming.

Another adventure in scouting was being inducted into the Order of the Arrow, whcih uses American Indian-styled traditions and ceremonies to bestow recognition on scouts selected by their peers as best exemplifying the ideals of Scouting. My most memorable events in the Ordeal were dropping my egg in the fire and having little to eat for breakfast.

After Eagle, I became an explorer scout, but shortly after that we moved to New Mexico to my Dad’s new job.