Floridian: A Boy Scout's work is never done

A Boy Scout's work is never done

Scouts struggle to live up to their oath to be, among other things, trustworthy, loyal, helpful and reverent.

By JOCELYN WIENER, Times Staff Writer

Scouts struggle to live up to their oath to be, among other things, trustworthy, loyal, helpful and reverent.

PALM HARBOR -- Inside Boy Scout Troop 26's Palm Harbor headquarters, several dozen boys in khaki shirts and olive-green shorts and trousers are fidgeting in their chairs and chatting loudly. The boys are preparing to vote for a new senior patrol leader. They have already been through the pledge of allegiance (three-fingered salute) and the Scout Law and Scout Oath (right hand next to right shoulder, three fingers pointing north.) Now, one by one, the candidates make their way to the podium.

David Bassant, a small, wide-eyed 12-year-old, is the first speaker. "I'd like to make the troop a better troop," he says hesitantly. He stands quietly for a moment, then steps down from the podium. He nervously high-fives one of the troop officers.

The Boy Scouts of America hit the headlines this month with the decision by Seattle scouting officials to ask Darrell Lambert, a 19-year-old Eagle Scout and a self-described atheist, to either find God or leave the organization.

Adult scouting leaders, including Mike Chapman, member of the executive board of the West Central Florida Council and adviser to Troop 26, defend the decision. "The Scout Oath says, 'On my honor, to do my duty to God and my country,' " Chapman says. "The 12th point of the Scout Law is that a Scout is reverent."

But before the boys of Troop 26 can delve into such philosophical issues, they need to elect a senior patrol leader. Cory Dewell, a thin, curly-haired 14-year-old, begins speaking next.

"I'd like to try and get you guys to quiet down more," he jokes. He promises more scouting trips. David Donovan, a 16-year-old Scout with a Life ranking, one below Eagle, reminds the troop that he has been involved for several years and lists several qualifications.

"There are three names on the ballot. Put a checkmark next to the person you believe would do the best job as senior patrol leader," Ted Chapman, the 17-year-old junior assistant scoutmaster, instructs the boys. He then retreats to the back room with one of the adults to count the ballots. When Cory learns that he has won the election, he sticks his arms up in the air victoriously and grins.

The boys divide up into patrols (Llama, Eagle, Moose, Hawk) to decide the menus for an upcoming camping trip. Scoutmaster Jim Watson, a tall, thin, mustachioed man, refers to the intense discussion and hyperactivity that follows as "controlled chaos." Mike Chapman, who is one of Watson's best friends, gathers the members of the Moose patrol, including his 15-year-old son Rick. The Moose patrol has been together for a decade now, since they were Tiger Cubs. For the benefit of a reporter, Chapman encourages them to put their thumbs against the sides of their heads, spread open their fingers, and become, fleetingly, adolescent human mooses. They do so reluctantly.

Eventually, Watson calls the boys into a circle. They sit cross-legged on the dirty tile floor, listening carefully as the question of the hour is posited to them: Just how much of a role do the 12 points of the Scout Law play in their young lives? Do they even know what those 12 points are?

Laughing at the naivete of the latter question, parents and children cheerfully recite the Scout Law in unison, "A Boy Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent."

Chapman briefly lectures them before they answer the main question. No one should be criticized for what he has to say. You can disagree, but stay on topic, and don't make it personal.

Coleman Dewell, an 11-year-old with spiky blond hair and the younger brother of the newly elected senior patrol leader, begins.

"Trustworthy is kind of hard because everyone tells a little lie, and when you come here you can't, and at home you always tell lies," he confesses. This statement is met by a mixture of gasps and giggles. Coleman's father, Douglas Dewell, himself an Eagle Scout along with Chapman and Watson, suggests disapprovingly that his son might want to start over.

"You said to tell the truth," Coleman answers.

Michael Warren, 12, says "Thrifty, because it is cool to just take apart a flashlight and see how it works inside."

"That's instead of buying one," Chapman explains.

"Yeah," says Michael. David Bassant, who just lost his bid for the senior patrol, looks pensive. "Brave is moderate," he pauses, "because it doesn't matter if you go out for something -- if you win or not."

"Brave," adds Chris Hosch, a 16-year-old Eagle Scout, "whether it's getting up every morning, or going to fight on a battlefield."

"Clean is easy," jokes Sean Thompson-Ferrero, 11, "because all you have to do is put soap in water." Scattered chuckles are heard from around the circle.

Scoutmaster Watson interjects with his own testimony: "Helpful. For specific example, at 10 o'clock one night I pulled over to the side of the road to help somebody push his car. I ended up giving him a ride back to Oldsmar."

But wait. It can't be easy to adhere to every point of the Scout Law all the time. What about bad moods and messy rooms and all of the mundane frustrations that affect most adolescents, and for that matter, most adults, too?

Chapman suggests the boys go around the circle, saying which point gives each of them the most trouble.

"The hardest part is probably clean," Matthew Dodge, 14, begins. "Like cleaning your mouth. At school all around you people are cussing and you can't cuss."

"Reverent is sometimes hard for me," confides 12-year-old Marty Shermetar. The room gets a little quieter. "On Sunday mornings when you wake up it's hard. You have to do it because it's something all Scouts need to believe in."

When it is his turn, Coleman Dewell repeats his earlier answer.

"Trustworthy," he says. This time he doesn't elaborate.

"Loyal," says Robby Adams, 12, "because sometimes at school you have people making fun of you for being a Scout. I just tell them, 'When's the last time you got to go on a seven-day camping trip?' "

One of the parents congratulates Robby on his good comeback.

"Cheerful," says David Donovan, with a grim look on his face.

"Brave," says Keith Allen, 12, "Sometimes being brave is really scary. Like when you're going up against scary things. But when you get through, you might never have to get through it again."

Short on time, Chapman calls the discussion to a halt halfway around the circle. The boys and their parents stand up, cross their arms, and grab the hands of the people on either side of them. Billy Mueller, former senior patrol leader, hands a feathered baton to Cory Dewell. The troop has borrowed the Native American tradition of passing the coup stick from leader to leader as a symbol of bravery and authority.

"I'm thrilled," Cory says of his election, after the meeting is finished and most of the boys have trickled out of the building, toward home. "This is what I've been wanting. I've been trying for a while."

Douglas Dewell comes over to where Cory and Coleman are standing.

"Did you tell her your great-grandfather is the oldest Eagle Scout in the nation?"

"No," Cory says, "His name is Wilbur Foster Creighton Jr."

"He received his Eagle Scout in 1916," Douglas adds. "And his father was the first scoutmaster in the middle Tennessee district. Cory and Coleman -- if they reach the rank of Eagle -- would be fourth generation Eagle Scouts. They have khaki blood."

"That's a lot of pressure," Coleman says quietly.

Any final thoughts from Cory about how to help the members of his troop adhere to the Scout Law?

"It's going pretty good with the 12 points," Cory smiles. "It's the attention and the attendance I need to work on."

"She wants a serious answer," Douglas Dewell instructs his son.

"You said to be honest," Coleman tells scoutmaster Watson as they leave the darkened headquarters together. "And I was and everyone laughed at me."

"No they didn't," Watson answers.

So, how important are the 12 points to the adult members of Troop 26?

"I've been teased about looking like a general," Chapman says, "But I'm really just a soldier in a war between good and evil. If one kid chooses the side of good, then my battle's won."