I'm looking at a 44-year-old photograph. I took the picture while trudging up the shoulders of Mount Snowden in North Wales. The weather in the background was what the British call a "soft day" with occasional showers of light rain from the low clouds overhead.
The picture captures a short wiry white-haired man named Frank Ralphes. He was dressed in tweeds, including a wool tie and a beret. And while the rest of us were over 50 years younger than Mr. Ralphes, he had no difficulty at all keeping up.
During our breaks along the trail Frank Ralphes would answer our many questions. You see, Mr. Ralphes had been a lad in the very first Boy Scout troop in Wales. Later when he was the Scout Master of the 1st Conwy Scout Group, his leadership training had been with Lord Baden-Powell himself, the founder of the worldwide Scouting movement.
Among his observations that day was his expectation that Scouting would be recognized as the most important British export of the 20th century.
Today, on the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America, I wouldn't argue Mr. Ralphes.
This impressive youth movement began largely as an accident.
When he was a military leader, Scouting's founder, Robert Baden-Powell, wrote a little manual titled "Aids to Scouting." The intent of the manual was to train soldiers in the techniques of being safe and comfortable in the outdoors. Well, that manual got into the hands of British teachers who used it with their pupils. Before we knew it, literally thousands of British boys and girls were calling themselves "Scouts." Baden-Powell reworked his manual into "Scouting for Boys," conducted a trial-run camp with 22 boys on Brownsea Island, and the Scouting movement was born. "Scouting for Boys" eventually became the 4th best-selling book written in the 20th century.
The number of Boy Scouts in America today is three times the population of Utah. Of course Scouting is huge in Utah mostly because just about every Mormon Ward charters multiple BSA units. But Scouting has other important and historic local features. The largest Boy Scout troop in Utah is sponsored by a Lion's Club in Bountiful. The longest continuous troop charter in the Top of Utah is supported by 1st Presbyterian Church in Ogden. And the oldest Boy Scout unit west of the Mississippi is the non-LDS Troop #1 in Logan.
Our local Scouting program support and leadership comes through the Trapper Trails Council. With over 47,000 registered youth, Trapper Trails is the third largest BSA council in the nation. But in my view the more impressive statistic comes from the adults. Scouting in the Top of Utah enjoys the support of over 22,000 dedicated volunteers. Not incidentally, every single one of those volunteers has passed a criminal background check. All of them are required to annually update their safety training, including the detection and prevention of every kind of abuse.
At my age and Scouting experience (both of which are considerable) I have been demoted to largely working with adult leaders ("Scouters"). I meet monthly with LDS, Jewish, and Catholic Scouters to help direct and expand local program support. You see, from the very beginning Scouting has intentionally transcended race, creed and religion. For example, while Scouting continues to be huge in the USA, our American Boy Scout population ranks number two to the number of Scouts in Indonesia. And most of those Indonesian Scouts are Muslim.
The genius behind the success of Scouting comes from Lord Baden-Powell's basic program philosophy, that Scouting is a "game with a purpose."
As a decorated military leader, Lord Baden-Powell was heartsick about war. Among his stated motivations for fully engaging with founding Scouting was to try to establish an international movement that would promote peace between peoples. Unfortunately, that has turned out to be an unfulfilled dream.
Still, on this centennial anniversary, Scouting continues to serve our youth through games and education. From frantic Cub Scouts at Pinewood Derby races, to Venturing Crews made up of 14-20 year old young men and women learning how to work and lead together, there is no youth service program that prepares young people to become fully functional adults provides better opportunities than Scouting.
Humphrey is a member of the Executive Board of Trapper Trails Council, the Trapper Trails Relations Committee, a recipient of the Silver Beaver award, and a Wood Badge instructor.
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