Somewhere along the past few years, my husband became a scouter. Ok. To be honest, Brian is an Eagle Scout. But he wasn’t really into the whole scouting as an adult thing. And then he was called to the Stake Young Men’s Presidency, and then as the President. In the Mormon faith, that means that he oversaw the program for boys age 12-18 in several congregations in our area. A large part of that work is a partnership with the Boy Scouts of America.
So, because he wanted to do the job well, he attended the trainings and round tables and other events he was supposed to be at. And, over the past few years, Brian went from reluctant scout leader to a bit of a scouter.
A couple of weeks ago, we went to the District Award of Merit banquet. Brian had earned some awards for his work and training as district commissioner and they were being presented there. He was presented his commissioner’s key and arrowhead and then I settled in thinking we’d enjoy watching others recognized for years of service with District Award of Merit. And then, as they started reading a bio, Brian nudged me. They were describing him. We were both quite surprised. He was touched to have been considered. And I’ll admit, that I was quite proud of my husband.
Well, it turns out he needed to go pick up a couple of patches for the commissioner awards so the next Saturday found us at the scout shop. And, with Patrick turning 8 and the blue and gold cub scout banquet coming up, I figured we’d let Patrick come inside so we could start to talk up cub scouts a bit.
Well, right as you walked in, there was a cardboard cutout of a cub scout in uniform. Patrick’s eyes got big. He didn’t know boys could have uniforms. And so I took him and showed him the real thing and he was practically drooling.
On the way out the door, Brian pointed out a flyer for a Tiger Cub’s Den. Tiger Cubs are 7-year-old cub scouts. The LDS church’s scouting program starts with wolves at 8. But if you want, you can pay your own dues and find a den and start early. Well, that got us talking and we decided that Patrick would really benefit from the chance to start scouts with a little bit more of the structure that’s available with Tigers. Parents invited. Simpler goals. And a little more organized of leaders. Not to mention the benefits of socializing with other boys his age, setting goals outside of school and survival, etc.
In short, we decided it was time to introduce Patrick to scouts.
Well, one morning I had some time, so I called Scout Headquarters and asked if there was a Tiger Cubs den near me. They surprised me by not recommending the den I’d heard about near us, but instead one about 20 minutes away. I don’t know if they just got their directions confused or if it was inspiration. But they gave me a name and a number.
So I called, and found myself speaking to a cubmaster who had a couple of special needs boys of her own who sounded more than willing to include Patrick. The schedule was right. They were kind of far from home but not too far from his school. I couldn’t have asked for picked better myself had I been given choices.
And so, back to the scout shop we went. Patrick was OVER THE MOON about buying his uniform. From Saturday to Wednesday he said several times a day, “I can’t wait till Wednesday!”
Wednesday came and we came home, did homework, ate dinner early, and headed out to den meeting. I think Patrick did ok. He participated in most of what they did. Wandered only when he didn’t understand the story being read. He earned an art beltloop.
Thursday, he carried his Tiger book around all day. He’s working on learning to read the scout oath. It’s kind of adorable.
And then Friday was the blue and gold banquet. We arrived late because we had attended the Provo City Center Temple openhouse. (More explanation later.) But on time for Patrick to be “knighted,” build a cottonball and tongue depressor catapault, and pull a sword from a stone. Again, he is so excited to be a part of scouts.
He keeps mixing up the name. He calls is “Scub couts” or “Tiger clubs.” But really that’s not bad considering he didn’t even know it existed until two weeks ago.
It’s going to be a bit of a commitment. We only have about 6 months to help him earn his Bobcat and Tiger. We get to drive in peak rush hour every Wednesday evening. We’ll be working on family goals in addition to what they do in meetings. But it is time for it.
It’s time for a little bit more of being a boy and a little bit less of being a transplant patient. Some of that living he went through so much to be able to do.
Patrick Hoopes 