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                  <text>ltbod Badge Mixes
ltbrk With Play
BY ERNEST DOCLAR
Photographs by Wesley Hitt

T

HE SCOUTERS' HEALTH
at the Wood Badge cou rse
at the Chickasaw Council's
Camp Cu rri er s ur ely
seemed in good hands. On staff at the
site, just south of Memphi s, Ten n.,
were a ca rdiologist, a general practi tioner, a nd a pediatrician (even though
it was an all -adu lt session). After a
few days with these 90 seemingly-ec-

centric Scouters, I began to feel that
perhaps they should have swapped the
pediatrician fo r a psychiatrist. Here's
why.
I was minding everyone's business,
as a goo d jo urn a li st shou ld , when
along stro ll s this nea tl y-o utfitted

Scouter- Smokey Bear hat, shorts,
the works-a day pack on his back .
But instead of it bearing stuff like a
trail lunch, map, compass, a nd Scout
book, peering from the pack's mouth
was a plush, st uffed bear with white
eyebrows. Methusa lch, the Scouter
called him . " Wh at's go in g on?" I
wondered.
A short time later a patrol of likewise mature, sensible- looki ng leaders
hiked by, dressed as if th ey'd just
stepped from the BSA cata log. It was
only when the single file weaved away
down the trail that I noticed that each
wore a n 18-i nch-long foxtail centered
at the rear of hi s or her belt.
To to p it off, next mo rning, th e
Sunday before Easter, I flipped open
my tent naps to find a trail uf colored,
plastic eggs lead ing across the ca mp
into Phil Gilmer's tent. Moments later
I hea rd Phil exclaim, "Oh, no! Where
did all these things come from? " The
" bunn y" had filled Gilmer's boots
with more eggs.
When Phil Gilmer, the Mem ph isbased cou ncil training chai rma n, had
stopped laughing, he assured me that
thi s rea lly was a serious bunch, not a
mob of escaped loonies. They were
just ca rrying on the Wood Badge tradition of mixing business a nd play.
" We fee l that you lea rn more when
you're having fun ," he said.
36

October 1988 + Scouting

�Even at Wood Badge
training, Memphis-area
Scouters believe you
learn best when you're
having fun.

World Scouting founder Lord
Baden-Powell had expressed much the
same years ago when he admonished
Scouters, "Do not take things too
seriously ... look on life as a game and

the world as a playground."
Evidently B-P's words fell on fertile
Wood Badge fields. A few years ago,
just as a gag , Robert Strickland
started lugging around that stuffed
bear. It drew so many laughs and such

good-natured ribbing that he adopted
the animal as his campground com-

Wood Badge patrols.
In the same vein , nicknames are be-

stowed recklessly at Wood Badge.
Often they stick for a lifetime. Course
Director/Scoutmaster Jim Laycook 's
buddies refer to him as ''Mickey, " a
pseudonym earned at some long-past
Wood Badge course.
It seems Laycook was running late
from work to get to camp, phoned to

ask his wife to pack his gear, dashed
home, picked it up, and headed for the
woods. Once there he spread his bedScourit1g

+ Oc1ober 1988

37

�N~"·

happens at Wood
Badge that can't
be taken home
and used in a
Boy Scout troop.

roll only to find that wife Jane mistakenly had
stashed away one of their kids' sleepover bags
that bore printed pictures of Walt Disney's
famous mouse.
Because B-P knew well that his consumers,
the boys of the world, loved pla:r; he engineered

Scouting to achieve the serious aims of the movement with fun-filled methods. Yet the British war
hero also realized that for Scouting to work as it
should, there would have to be adult leaders who
knew what they were doing .

B-P stressed schooling in Scoutcraft and insti tuted basic training and then in England in 1919
the first Wood Badge advanced training course.
Graduates of the latter course and subsequem

ones worldwide, ranging from England's Oilwell
Park to America's Schiff Scout Reservation , were
awarded a leather thong strung with two wooden
beads, the Wood Badge, as a symbol of their
accomplishment.
Though a simple recognition, the badge has
been sought after with fervor. Its philosophy
changed several times in its history, but today
Wood Badge in the US.A . is an advanced training experience in leadership skills, troop operation, and Scout spirit. Spend a few days as guest

observer or complete a Wood Badge course yourself (I've done both), and you feel spirit so thick
that you could cleave it with a Scout ax.
Scouting magazine decided to cover the Memphis Wood Badge session for several reasons:
First, the council invited us ; we hadn' t done a

Wood Badge story in a long time. Second, it was
the 40th anniversary of the first Wood Badge
course in the States, and this would be a raritytwo courses, SE-471 and SE-487 (SE for Southeast Region) , would be going on simultaneously

at the same camp. Besides, we'd never done a
weekend course story before, and about 75 percent of all US.A. courses take place over three
weekends as opposed to week-long courses.
While staff serve as coach, counselor, father/
mother figure, and confessor, Scouter-participants at the beginning of the course feet less than
lovi ng toward their advisers.
Course 471 Senior Patrol Leader Jim Huls
tells you, "The opening weekend may be the
toughest. We purposely make it that to give these
adults the same feeling their Scouts have when
those kids attend their first camp-out-tired,
confused, lonely."
Reality is that the entire Wood Badge course
simulates a typical, well -run troop operation
with adult-participants playing the parts of Boy
Scouts. Hopefully, the participants realize that
when someone like Committee Member Curtis
Jeans talks to the gang about .. controlling the
group" and the other nine leadership sk ills, the
Scouters will learn those skills so they can implement them back home. As Phil Gilmer says,
.. We don't do anything here that you can't take
back and use immediately in your troop. "
A typical day at a Wood Badge course is
crammed full of action as should be the day at
any Boy Scout troop camp-out. The Scouters,
unlike youth members, realize that they' re here

38

Oc1ober 1988

'*' Scouti11g

primarily to learn. While there are some personality conflicts, most get along well with each
other. And that's no accident. Using profile sheets
filled out by participants, the staff went to great
pains to achieve a patrol mix of different backgrounds, ages, occupations, etc.
A lumberman's breakfast stokes up the
Scouters because Wood Badge gals and guys are
constantly on lhe go. Staffers used to be guests al
every patrol meal. But Course Scoutmaster Bob
Yahola believes that "The participants and staff
need a break from each other. That's why staff eat
their breakfast in the staff area, the participants
eat in patrol dining areas."
And a hearty meal it is, something like a
steamy eggs-potatoes-cheese casserole whipped
up in Course 487 by outdoor gourmet cook, SPL
Dr. Jim Stanford.
Camp routine includes morning instruction
periods in a leadership skill and in basic camp
lore like first aid, game leading, campfires, lowimpact camping. There's always a later opportunity to test how well the patrol soaked up the
instruction.
For example, take the second weekend pioneering project at Course 471 's campsite. Staff
counselor Jason Hood suggested to the Eagle
Patrol what seemed like a neat gadget, a selfclosing camp gate to be lashed together from
plans taken from a Boy Scout Program Helps
booklet. It involved a smidgen of ingenuity a nd a
heavy dose of basic lashings learned at a previous
session.
By the time the project was finished , Memphis
Troop 459 Assistant Scoutmaster and Wood
Badge Eagle Patrol Member Steve Vaughn was
able to say, .. I sure know more about lashings
than when I started." While he may never become a Pioneering merit badge counselor, he will
be able to teach his Scouts how to organize their
own projects and how to tie lhe square lashing
and basic knots.
Most Wood Badge Scouters complete the
course feeling it was three weekends and two
mid-course patrol meetings well spent. Mike
Mullins, an assistant Scoutmaster in Troop 51 ,
Memphis, Course 487 , found other payoffs: "I
enjoyed the people here and made some good
friends-and maybe even some good business
connections."
Jim Huls believes trainees don' t appreciate
until later the true value of Wood Badge. " It's
great training in working with people and using
time wisely. I've been to professional leadership
seminars, but I haven' t found any that offer training as good as Wood Badge."
As a sort of "final exam," each entire Wood
Badge troop on the Saturday of its last weekend
joins in an Adventure Trail wilh " hurdles" or
obstacles that tax lheir basic woods wisdom and
how well the patrol works together.
Always popular is the Maze, a course that each
patrol follows blindfolded, one hand on a length
of twine that runs from one tree to the next and
on, the other hand on the belt of the patrol mate in
line ahead. That evening each (con1inued on page 70)

�Wood Badge (from page 38)
HEADQUARTERS FOR YOUR DERBY PATCHES
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SPECIAL AWARDS COMPANY

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CLOISONNE PINS/PATCHES

~~~=~£r==-~
FflEECATALOGUEOf911+STOCllTEMPINS,
~OfFSAUISKN'mllNGNOW!

===::::..:________

Bonds
are for

beginnings.

US. SAVINGS BONDS~

Paying Better Than Ever ~ -

70

patrol camps out in a different campsite
than their usual one, usually packing all
gear on their backs.
That last day is a particularly long one
highlighted by the Wood Badge feast,
with culinary masterworks you'd never
imagine possible cooked over camp fires
-wild rice and chicken, barbecued
quail, southern-fried catfish, cobblers
and cakes of every flavor.
Troop 471 's Bobwhites will never stop
talking about the visiting raccoon that
invaded their campsite during most
weekends. On that last day the little rascal hauled off a six-pound beef roast to
his den . Someone suggested raccoon
stew as a substitute but thar might violate
the Outdoor Code they all pledged to
observe. So Quartermaster Rick Riley
dashed back into the nearby town of Hernando and bought another piece of meat.
An important last item of business was
finished when Wood Badge trainees submitted the final version of their " ticket."
This is simply a commitment the
Scouters put in writing. It promises they
will use what they've learned during
Wood Badge back in their home councils,
districts, and units.
" One great value of the ' ticket, ' " says
Bob Yahola, " is that it forces people to
carry through on their Scoutingjob. How
I can you expect a boy to continue to Star
or Life or Eagle rank if his leaders don't
follow through? "
The ticket consists of three parts: service to others, goals, and perso nal
growth. All staffers, including coachcounselor/committee members assigned
to patrols during the camp, serve as ticket
counselors.
For some participants, the ticket is the
hardest part of the entire course. It is both
a test of how well the trainees have
learned and how welJ the staff has taught.
Not lightly treated, it's required to earn
the Wood Badge beads. Trainees must
complete it no sooner than six months
and no later than November 30 of the
second year following the "practical
(outdoor) training."
To help participants choose "service to
others" and "goals" projects, the Chickasaw Council publishes a "ticket consideration list. " This suggests tasks like
serving on Boy Scout leader basic or junior leader training faculties, or adopting
a troop that doosn't camp often and taking it for a weekend in the woods.
The "goals" part of the ticket aims at
improving unit performance, such as increasing troop attendance at summer
camp or helping the unit earn the Quality
October 1988

+ Scouting

Troop Award. " Personal growth" helps
the trainee realize some of his or her
shortcomings and maps a path to overcome those deficiencies.
Young Jim Strickland with Course 471
recalled how successful a certain event
was when he was a Scout back in New
Jersey. " The Webelos Woods weekend
was always well attended. But it hasn't
yet caught on in this council. I'd like to
help organize an event like that. I th.ink it
would help us graduate more Webelos
Scouts to Boy Scouting."
Sammie Gilmer, another Eagle of
"471," has worked at training almost as
long as has husband Phil. "I've agreed in
my ticket to help council trainers teach
the Scoutmastership Fundamentals
course. That' ll be one of my 'service to
others' projects. One 'goal' I hope to accomplish is to update my home Troop
256's files. I think I can reorganize them
in such a way that it will help the troop
treasurer.
"One of my 'personal growth' pledges
is to become more proficient in knots,"
Sammie Gilmer continued. "To get to the
point where I can instruct new Scouts in
ropework so they'll be ready for summer
camp."
Not too surprisingly, the percentage of
Wood Badge Scouters who complete the
triple-header ticket is high. "About 80 to
85 percent of our Scouters finish all parts
of the ticket, " says Course Director Jim
Laycook.
By early evening of the final hours
most patrols have rolled up their tents,
cleared fire circles, and scoured the last
scraps of food from pots. Far from the
bright lights of Memphis, 20 miles northward, one sees myriad stars twinkling
brightly. Orion hangs directly overhead,
poised to move toward the western horizon.
Silently the patrols saunter for the last
time to the campfire circle. These are
memorable moments as the Scouters recite the Scout Promise, hug each other in
parting, and then head homewardwhere now the real work begins.
•

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            <text>ltbod Badge Mixes&#13;
ltbrk With Play&#13;
BY ERNEST DOCLAR&#13;
Photographs by Wesley Hitt&#13;
&#13;
T&#13;
&#13;
HE SCOUTERS' HEALTH&#13;
at the Wood Badge cou rse&#13;
at the Chickasaw Council's&#13;
Camp Cu rri er s ur ely&#13;
seemed in good hands. On staff at the&#13;
site, just south of Memphi s, Ten n.,&#13;
were a ca rdiologist, a general practi tioner, a nd a pediatrician (even though&#13;
it was an all -adu lt session). After a&#13;
few days with these 90 seemingly-ec-&#13;
&#13;
centric Scouters, I began to feel that&#13;
perhaps they should have swapped the&#13;
pediatrician fo r a psychiatrist. Here's&#13;
why.&#13;
I was minding everyone's business,&#13;
as a goo d jo urn a li st shou ld , when&#13;
along stro ll s this nea tl y-o utfitted&#13;
&#13;
Scouter- Smokey Bear hat, shorts,&#13;
the works-a day pack on his back .&#13;
But instead of it bearing stuff like a&#13;
trail lunch, map, compass, a nd Scout&#13;
book, peering from the pack's mouth&#13;
was a plush, st uffed bear with white&#13;
eyebrows. Methusa lch, the Scouter&#13;
called him . " Wh at's go in g on?" I&#13;
wondered.&#13;
A short time later a patrol of likewise mature, sensible- looki ng leaders&#13;
hiked by, dressed as if th ey'd just&#13;
stepped from the BSA cata log. It was&#13;
only when the single file weaved away&#13;
down the trail that I noticed that each&#13;
wore a n 18-i nch-long foxtail centered&#13;
at the rear of hi s or her belt.&#13;
To to p it off, next mo rning, th e&#13;
Sunday before Easter, I flipped open&#13;
my tent naps to find a trail uf colored,&#13;
plastic eggs lead ing across the ca mp&#13;
into Phil Gilmer's tent. Moments later&#13;
I hea rd Phil exclaim, "Oh, no! Where&#13;
did all these things come from? " The&#13;
" bunn y" had filled Gilmer's boots&#13;
with more eggs.&#13;
When Phil Gilmer, the Mem ph isbased cou ncil training chai rma n, had&#13;
stopped laughing, he assured me that&#13;
thi s rea lly was a serious bunch, not a&#13;
mob of escaped loonies. They were&#13;
just ca rrying on the Wood Badge tradition of mixing business a nd play.&#13;
" We fee l that you lea rn more when&#13;
you're having fun ," he said.&#13;
36&#13;
&#13;
October 1988 + Scouting&#13;
&#13;
Even at Wood Badge&#13;
training, Memphis-area&#13;
Scouters believe you&#13;
learn best when you're&#13;
having fun.&#13;
&#13;
World Scouting founder Lord&#13;
Baden-Powell had expressed much the&#13;
same years ago when he admonished&#13;
Scouters, "Do not take things too&#13;
seriously ... look on life as a game and&#13;
&#13;
the world as a playground."&#13;
Evidently B-P's words fell on fertile&#13;
Wood Badge fields. A few years ago,&#13;
just as a gag , Robert Strickland&#13;
started lugging around that stuffed&#13;
bear. It drew so many laughs and such&#13;
&#13;
good-natured ribbing that he adopted&#13;
the animal as his campground com-&#13;
&#13;
Wood Badge patrols.&#13;
In the same vein , nicknames are be-&#13;
&#13;
stowed recklessly at Wood Badge.&#13;
Often they stick for a lifetime. Course&#13;
Director/Scoutmaster Jim Laycook 's&#13;
buddies refer to him as ''Mickey, " a&#13;
pseudonym earned at some long-past&#13;
Wood Badge course.&#13;
It seems Laycook was running late&#13;
from work to get to camp, phoned to&#13;
&#13;
ask his wife to pack his gear, dashed&#13;
home, picked it up, and headed for the&#13;
woods. Once there he spread his bedScourit1g&#13;
&#13;
+ Oc1ober 1988&#13;
&#13;
37&#13;
&#13;
N~"·&#13;
&#13;
happens at Wood&#13;
Badge that can't&#13;
be taken home&#13;
and used in a&#13;
Boy Scout troop.&#13;
&#13;
roll only to find that wife Jane mistakenly had&#13;
stashed away one of their kids' sleepover bags&#13;
that bore printed pictures of Walt Disney's&#13;
famous mouse.&#13;
Because B-P knew well that his consumers,&#13;
the boys of the world, loved pla:r; he engineered&#13;
&#13;
Scouting to achieve the serious aims of the movement with fun-filled methods. Yet the British war&#13;
hero also realized that for Scouting to work as it&#13;
should, there would have to be adult leaders who&#13;
knew what they were doing .&#13;
&#13;
B-P stressed schooling in Scoutcraft and insti tuted basic training and then in England in 1919&#13;
the first Wood Badge advanced training course.&#13;
Graduates of the latter course and subsequem&#13;
&#13;
ones worldwide, ranging from England's Oilwell&#13;
Park to America's Schiff Scout Reservation , were&#13;
awarded a leather thong strung with two wooden&#13;
beads, the Wood Badge, as a symbol of their&#13;
accomplishment.&#13;
Though a simple recognition, the badge has&#13;
been sought after with fervor. Its philosophy&#13;
changed several times in its history, but today&#13;
Wood Badge in the US.A . is an advanced training experience in leadership skills, troop operation, and Scout spirit. Spend a few days as guest&#13;
&#13;
observer or complete a Wood Badge course yourself (I've done both), and you feel spirit so thick&#13;
that you could cleave it with a Scout ax.&#13;
Scouting magazine decided to cover the Memphis Wood Badge session for several reasons:&#13;
First, the council invited us ; we hadn' t done a&#13;
&#13;
Wood Badge story in a long time. Second, it was&#13;
the 40th anniversary of the first Wood Badge&#13;
course in the States, and this would be a raritytwo courses, SE-471 and SE-487 (SE for Southeast Region) , would be going on simultaneously&#13;
&#13;
at the same camp. Besides, we'd never done a&#13;
weekend course story before, and about 75 percent of all US.A. courses take place over three&#13;
weekends as opposed to week-long courses.&#13;
While staff serve as coach, counselor, father/&#13;
mother figure, and confessor, Scouter-participants at the beginning of the course feet less than&#13;
lovi ng toward their advisers.&#13;
Course 471 Senior Patrol Leader Jim Huls&#13;
tells you, "The opening weekend may be the&#13;
toughest. We purposely make it that to give these&#13;
adults the same feeling their Scouts have when&#13;
those kids attend their first camp-out-tired,&#13;
confused, lonely."&#13;
Reality is that the entire Wood Badge course&#13;
simulates a typical, well -run troop operation&#13;
with adult-participants playing the parts of Boy&#13;
Scouts. Hopefully, the participants realize that&#13;
when someone like Committee Member Curtis&#13;
Jeans talks to the gang about .. controlling the&#13;
group" and the other nine leadership sk ills, the&#13;
Scouters will learn those skills so they can implement them back home. As Phil Gilmer says,&#13;
.. We don't do anything here that you can't take&#13;
back and use immediately in your troop. "&#13;
A typical day at a Wood Badge course is&#13;
crammed full of action as should be the day at&#13;
any Boy Scout troop camp-out. The Scouters,&#13;
unlike youth members, realize that they' re here&#13;
&#13;
38&#13;
&#13;
Oc1ober 1988&#13;
&#13;
'*' Scouti11g&#13;
&#13;
primarily to learn. While there are some personality conflicts, most get along well with each&#13;
other. And that's no accident. Using profile sheets&#13;
filled out by participants, the staff went to great&#13;
pains to achieve a patrol mix of different backgrounds, ages, occupations, etc.&#13;
A lumberman's breakfast stokes up the&#13;
Scouters because Wood Badge gals and guys are&#13;
constantly on lhe go. Staffers used to be guests al&#13;
every patrol meal. But Course Scoutmaster Bob&#13;
Yahola believes that "The participants and staff&#13;
need a break from each other. That's why staff eat&#13;
their breakfast in the staff area, the participants&#13;
eat in patrol dining areas."&#13;
And a hearty meal it is, something like a&#13;
steamy eggs-potatoes-cheese casserole whipped&#13;
up in Course 487 by outdoor gourmet cook, SPL&#13;
Dr. Jim Stanford.&#13;
Camp routine includes morning instruction&#13;
periods in a leadership skill and in basic camp&#13;
lore like first aid, game leading, campfires, lowimpact camping. There's always a later opportunity to test how well the patrol soaked up the&#13;
instruction.&#13;
For example, take the second weekend pioneering project at Course 471 's campsite. Staff&#13;
counselor Jason Hood suggested to the Eagle&#13;
Patrol what seemed like a neat gadget, a selfclosing camp gate to be lashed together from&#13;
plans taken from a Boy Scout Program Helps&#13;
booklet. It involved a smidgen of ingenuity a nd a&#13;
heavy dose of basic lashings learned at a previous&#13;
session.&#13;
By the time the project was finished , Memphis&#13;
Troop 459 Assistant Scoutmaster and Wood&#13;
Badge Eagle Patrol Member Steve Vaughn was&#13;
able to say, .. I sure know more about lashings&#13;
than when I started." While he may never become a Pioneering merit badge counselor, he will&#13;
be able to teach his Scouts how to organize their&#13;
own projects and how to tie lhe square lashing&#13;
and basic knots.&#13;
Most Wood Badge Scouters complete the&#13;
course feeling it was three weekends and two&#13;
mid-course patrol meetings well spent. Mike&#13;
Mullins, an assistant Scoutmaster in Troop 51 ,&#13;
Memphis, Course 487 , found other payoffs: "I&#13;
enjoyed the people here and made some good&#13;
friends-and maybe even some good business&#13;
connections."&#13;
Jim Huls believes trainees don' t appreciate&#13;
until later the true value of Wood Badge. " It's&#13;
great training in working with people and using&#13;
time wisely. I've been to professional leadership&#13;
seminars, but I haven' t found any that offer training as good as Wood Badge."&#13;
As a sort of "final exam," each entire Wood&#13;
Badge troop on the Saturday of its last weekend&#13;
joins in an Adventure Trail wilh " hurdles" or&#13;
obstacles that tax lheir basic woods wisdom and&#13;
how well the patrol works together.&#13;
Always popular is the Maze, a course that each&#13;
patrol follows blindfolded, one hand on a length&#13;
of twine that runs from one tree to the next and&#13;
on, the other hand on the belt of the patrol mate in&#13;
line ahead. That evening each (con1inued on page 70)&#13;
&#13;
Wood Badge (from page 38)&#13;
HEADQUARTERS FOR YOUR DERBY PATCHES&#13;
PINEWCX)[).KLONOIKEFISHING&amp;ROCKETDEABYS&#13;
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patrol camps out in a different campsite&#13;
than their usual one, usually packing all&#13;
gear on their backs.&#13;
That last day is a particularly long one&#13;
highlighted by the Wood Badge feast,&#13;
with culinary masterworks you'd never&#13;
imagine possible cooked over camp fires&#13;
-wild rice and chicken, barbecued&#13;
quail, southern-fried catfish, cobblers&#13;
and cakes of every flavor.&#13;
Troop 471 's Bobwhites will never stop&#13;
talking about the visiting raccoon that&#13;
invaded their campsite during most&#13;
weekends. On that last day the little rascal hauled off a six-pound beef roast to&#13;
his den . Someone suggested raccoon&#13;
stew as a substitute but thar might violate&#13;
the Outdoor Code they all pledged to&#13;
observe. So Quartermaster Rick Riley&#13;
dashed back into the nearby town of Hernando and bought another piece of meat.&#13;
An important last item of business was&#13;
finished when Wood Badge trainees submitted the final version of their " ticket."&#13;
This is simply a commitment the&#13;
Scouters put in writing. It promises they&#13;
will use what they've learned during&#13;
Wood Badge back in their home councils,&#13;
districts, and units.&#13;
" One great value of the ' ticket, ' " says&#13;
Bob Yahola, " is that it forces people to&#13;
carry through on their Scoutingjob. How&#13;
I can you expect a boy to continue to Star&#13;
or Life or Eagle rank if his leaders don't&#13;
follow through? "&#13;
The ticket consists of three parts: service to others, goals, and perso nal&#13;
growth. All staffers, including coachcounselor/committee members assigned&#13;
to patrols during the camp, serve as ticket&#13;
counselors.&#13;
For some participants, the ticket is the&#13;
hardest part of the entire course. It is both&#13;
a test of how well the trainees have&#13;
learned and how welJ the staff has taught.&#13;
Not lightly treated, it's required to earn&#13;
the Wood Badge beads. Trainees must&#13;
complete it no sooner than six months&#13;
and no later than November 30 of the&#13;
second year following the "practical&#13;
(outdoor) training."&#13;
To help participants choose "service to&#13;
others" and "goals" projects, the Chickasaw Council publishes a "ticket consideration list. " This suggests tasks like&#13;
serving on Boy Scout leader basic or junior leader training faculties, or adopting&#13;
a troop that doosn't camp often and taking it for a weekend in the woods.&#13;
The "goals" part of the ticket aims at&#13;
improving unit performance, such as increasing troop attendance at summer&#13;
camp or helping the unit earn the Quality&#13;
October 1988&#13;
&#13;
+ Scouting&#13;
&#13;
Troop Award. " Personal growth" helps&#13;
the trainee realize some of his or her&#13;
shortcomings and maps a path to overcome those deficiencies.&#13;
Young Jim Strickland with Course 471&#13;
recalled how successful a certain event&#13;
was when he was a Scout back in New&#13;
Jersey. " The Webelos Woods weekend&#13;
was always well attended. But it hasn't&#13;
yet caught on in this council. I'd like to&#13;
help organize an event like that. I th.ink it&#13;
would help us graduate more Webelos&#13;
Scouts to Boy Scouting."&#13;
Sammie Gilmer, another Eagle of&#13;
"471," has worked at training almost as&#13;
long as has husband Phil. "I've agreed in&#13;
my ticket to help council trainers teach&#13;
the Scoutmastership Fundamentals&#13;
course. That' ll be one of my 'service to&#13;
others' projects. One 'goal' I hope to accomplish is to update my home Troop&#13;
256's files. I think I can reorganize them&#13;
in such a way that it will help the troop&#13;
treasurer.&#13;
"One of my 'personal growth' pledges&#13;
is to become more proficient in knots,"&#13;
Sammie Gilmer continued. "To get to the&#13;
point where I can instruct new Scouts in&#13;
ropework so they'll be ready for summer&#13;
camp."&#13;
Not too surprisingly, the percentage of&#13;
Wood Badge Scouters who complete the&#13;
triple-header ticket is high. "About 80 to&#13;
85 percent of our Scouters finish all parts&#13;
of the ticket, " says Course Director Jim&#13;
Laycook.&#13;
By early evening of the final hours&#13;
most patrols have rolled up their tents,&#13;
cleared fire circles, and scoured the last&#13;
scraps of food from pots. Far from the&#13;
bright lights of Memphis, 20 miles northward, one sees myriad stars twinkling&#13;
brightly. Orion hangs directly overhead,&#13;
poised to move toward the western horizon.&#13;
Silently the patrols saunter for the last&#13;
time to the campfire circle. These are&#13;
memorable moments as the Scouters recite the Scout Promise, hug each other in&#13;
parting, and then head homewardwhere now the real work begins.&#13;
•&#13;
&#13;
</text>
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              <text>10/1/1988</text>
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              <text>1988 (10/01/1988) Scouting Magazine: Wood Badge Mixes Work With Play</text>
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          <name>Publisher</name>
          <description>An entity responsible for making the resource available</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="1569">
              <text>University of North Texas Libraries</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="48">
          <name>Source</name>
          <description>A related resource from which the described resource is derived</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="1570">
              <text>Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="47">
          <name>Rights</name>
          <description>Information about rights held in and over the resource</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="1571">
              <text>Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 76, Number 5, October 1988, periodical, October 1988; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353653/m1/36/?q=Chickasaw: accessed March 18, 2019), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.</text>
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      <name>Wood Badge</name>
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