From the Commissioner: Making a Great Scouting Family

As I travel across the country I am always introduced to Scouters I haven’t met before, and many times in the course of the introduction I hear the phrase, “This is a great Scouting family.” There are literally thousands and thousands of you across the country, and I am always eager to meet one more. This issue of Scouting will introduce you to five more. And great Scouting families they are!

It got me thinking: What makes a “great Scouting family”? There is no checklist, no particular set of elements — and yet they are always recognizable to other Scouters. They are also recognizable to the communities in which they live — even if that community has no idea they are involved in Scouting, never sees them in a uniform. You find them in community service, bringing the leadership skills they learned in Scouting to other organizations and being prepared to reach out to others.

How does it happen, that metamorphosis from a family to a “great Scouting family”? Oftentimes it happens when a young person joins Scouting. As his or her parents help them understand the concepts of “Do a Good Turn Daily,” “Do Your Best” and “Be Prepared,” those actions become infectious and spread to the whole family. Eventually everyone catches the spirit, and another great Scouting family is born. It is certainly what happened to the Boozer family of Waco, Texas. John Jack, now an Eagle Scout, encouraged his younger brother, Jake, to follow him into Scouting. He also got his grandfather to be a den leader. Now his mom, Meredith, is troop treasurer, and both the boys’ parents went along on the troop’s Philmont trek.

This fall, thousands of youth will be joining Scouting for the first time. Many of them will come from families that have never been involved in Scouting before. New Member Coordinators in all types of units will be welcoming them, making them and their families feel comfortable in the unit. And thousands of new “great Scouting families” will be born.

I can’t wait to meet them!

Yours for Better Scouting,

Ellie Morrison

National Commissioner