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Scout Speak Fall 2005 |
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Scouting is a wise investment |
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Please Give Generously
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SURVEY
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NHRA Modeled After Boy Scouts  NHRA
Starter Home Turned to Legacy
Eagle in Baghdad
Inner City Scouts Explore Philmont Scouts Explore Philmont
Biggest Race of the Year
 Imagine the excitement! Cars are lining up for the biggest race of the year. Judges inspect each car to make sure they qualify – even weighing them to see that they do not exceed the 5 ounce limit. Cars whiz by with a few test laps before the race. The crowd grows. Excitement and the smell of popcorn fill the air. Pit crews are making last minute repairs and adjustments as the announcer calls the racing order. Race day is here!
Many cars have taken months to build and the race crews have extra tires, even axels on hand – just in case. Each car races several heats throughout the day. The drivers are psychologically prepared. Some drivers have raced this track before. It is one of the most exciting events in Cub Scouting – when boys get to race the pinewood derby cars they built themselves (well, maybe almost by themselves).
Parents are obviously just as excited as the boys as the cars come barreling down the track. In an instant the first heat is history and the racers for the next heat are standing by to race. Scouts and families experience the fun and excitement of  direct competition. The crowd thins in final heats as the competition is eliminated in a series of photo finishes. As the last race closes all attention shifts to the presentation of trophies and ribbons. Closure of this event signals the beginning of new ideas being shared between parents and their sons to build a better car for next year’s race.
The Pinewood Derby is one of the many events enjoyed by boys in Cub Scouting (grades 1-5). Each August and September most schools open their doors on designated sign up nights. For more information please call Irene at (713) 756-9122, e-mail joinscouting@shac.org or direct your browser to www.joincubscouting.org
INNER CITY SCOUTS EXPLORE PHILMONT
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Wheeler Avenue Baptist Troop 242’s adventure to Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, N.M. would not have been possible without Rev. William A. Lawson’s vision to have a Boy Scout Troop
as his church youth program for boys at his small inner city church over 40 years ago. Rev. Lawson describes the Scouting program as “Building character for all; developing the best character for all – without restriction or limitation…” Forty years later with a congregation of more than 5,000 – Wheeler Avenue Baptist church has continued to provide Troop 242 the institutional support to be successful - producing over 125 Eagle Scouts over the years.
DAY 1 Arrive and Get Ready
We arrived at Philmont base camp near Cimarron, New Mexico. We met our guide Josh who will hike with us for our first two days on the trail training the crew on land navigation, first aid, water sources, camp cleanliness and keeping bears out of campsite.
DAY 2 Black Powder and Pasta
We left base camp around 1:00 p.m. for the Kit Carson Museum - the starting point of our trek. At the museum Philmont staffers dressed and acted the role of traditional western settlers. After a brief black powder rifle demonstration, we hit the trail for Olympic Camp. The first leg our journey was a relatively flat 2 mile hike to the campsite. We had pasta? Better luck next time.
DAY 3 Cobbler at 8,000 Feet
Zastro Camp – the pristine campsites are all situated along Rayado Creek. Zastro provided the crew an opportunity to test land navigation skills using map and compass. Zastro has a 12 point land navigation course. Teams spent most of the day navigating fields and streams. After supper, we were treated to a Dutch oven cobbler and later we hiked to a moonlit meadow where we re-dedicated ourselves to the high ideals of Scouting.
DAY 4 8,800 Feet – Food is tasting better
We left Zastro Camp for Abreu around 6:15 a.m. Abreu camp is a Mexican homesteading camp on the way to Carson's Meadow. We arrived at Abreu around 8:30 a.m. where we ate breakfast by Rayado Creek. Meal preparation and cooking is much better!
DAY 5 Hiking and Fishing
Our crew began its first 10 mile leg - breaking camp at 6am. It was 99-degrees in the shade but 0% humidity when we stopped for lunch in the pines. After lunch we tied flies for fly-fishing and wet the line but didn’t catch any fish. Around 6:00 p.m. the crew left Fish Camp for Agua Fria camp. Raingear was needed as the daily storm approached. We pitched our camp at Agua Fria.
DAY 6 The Mule Deer Bear
We stopped at Phillips Junction on the way to Crooked Creek Camp. Crew quartermaster Marcus and crew leader Marlon organized the crew to get food at the commissary for the next four days as well as white gas fuel for our stoves. We ended up arriving very late at Crooked Creek camp because we took the wrong trail. After arriving late all we had time for was tent setup, eating, washing clothes and cleanup. We only traveled 14-miles but it took all day. Funny moment of the day: Watching Reolin, our crew leader run from a mule deer screaming "a bear .. a bear ... a bear!"
DAY 7 Daybreak – its time to feed the chickens
Before we left for Clear Creek, we participated in the morning program at Crooked Creek led by "Buffalo Soldier" Bruce. The crew participated in feeding the burros, cows, lambs and chickens on the farm (Clear Creek is a homesteading/farm camp). We left for Clear Creek at 9am on a uphill hike to Clear Creek camp. At nearly 10,500 feet Clear Creek camp offers crews a chance to fire black powder rifles, throw tomahawks and learn about fur trapping and mountain man living of days gone by. The big day of our trek would be the next day - hiking over Mt. Phillips at nearly 12,000 feet above sea level with packs weighing between 60 to 75 pounds fully loaded
DAY 8 Summit
The day had finally arrived - the hike to Mt. Phillips. Crew leader Reolin woke everyone up for 4:30 a.m. The plan was to get started toward Mt. Phillips at first light to take advantage of the Philmont's cool mornings. It begins to warm up at Philmont around 10:30 a.m. Bruce was appointed pacesetter for the 3 1/2 hour trek from Clear Creek camp to the summit of Mt. Phillips.
Bruce led the crew on a slow and steady hike up the trail to Mt. Phillips with frequent stops. We reached the summit of Mt. Phillips by 9 a.m. Seeing the world at nearly 12,000 feet above sea level is breathtaking.
We left Mt. Phillips around 10:30 a.m. Our trail took us down-hill (thank goodness) for the next several hours to an old gold-mining camp – Cypher’s Mine. We spent the night in large cabins that sleep 12 with three walls and concrete floors.
DAY 9-10 Rock Climbing
The crew left Cypher's Mine and took the North Fork trail to the Hunting Lodge enroute to Cimarroncito camp. What a relief for everyone on the crew- HOT SHOWERS! The crew went rock-climbing and participated in the camp's athletic games - volleyball, football, dodgeball, soccer and Frisbee golf. For supper we ate Zataran's Red Beans & Rice, garlic mashed potatoes and canned fruit Hmm-hmmm good!
DAY 11 Roping, Branding and Biscuits
Clarks Fork camp is one of Philmont's largest camps with horseback riding, cattle branding, horseshoes, roping, or just plain old fashion doing nothing! The camp has a cowboy theme camp staff dresses the part. We branded anything we wanted - shirts, hats, belts, boots, shoes ... anything. Everyone branded at least one item with the Philmont horse brand or cattle brand.
The big draw at Clarks Fork is a hot chuck wagon style dinner. Each crew sent two crew members to work with the camp staff in preparing cowboy stew, hot biscuits and cinnamon/peach cobbler. The aroma filled the air as the chuck wagon’s dinner bell rang at 5 pm. No one walked away hungry.
Around dark-thirty, the Clarks Fork Cowboy hootin' nannie program began with an old fashion cowboy jam session of western songs, jokes and skits.
DAY 12 Showers at trail’s end
Our last day in the backcountry started at 6:30 a.m. with a long steep uphill climb to Shaefer's pass and then to the Tooth of Time. The rocky trail was not easy but offered a spectacular view. At noon we started our last and final leg of our journey -a three-hour downhill hike to base camp. The hike is long because it is the original trail cut by Waite Phillips for his horses to get to the top of Tooth Ridge. We made it to back to base camp around 3:15 p.m, paused to take a picture under the "Welcome Back" sign and headed for the tents and showers. We made it! 
These properties (Philmont Scout Ranch) are donated and dedicated to the Boy Scouts of America for the purpose of perpetuating faith, self-reliance, integrity and freedom - principles used to build this great country by the American Pioneer. So that these future citizens may, through thoughtful adult guidance and by the inspiration of nature, visualize and form a code of living to diligently maintain these high ideals and our proper destiny. -Waite Phillips - December 1941
Philmont Scout Ranch is a national camping area, owned and operated by the Boy Scouts of America. Philmont comprises about 215 square miles of rugged mountain wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo (Blood of Christ) range of the Rockies.
More than 700,000 Scouts, Venturers, and leaders have experienced the adventure of Philmont since the first camping season in 1939. Throughout its existence, conscientious attention to low-impact camping techniques has helped maintain the ranch's wilderness flavor.
Eagle in Baghdad A Personal Essay
“Once an Eagle Scout, always an Eagle Scout.”
My name is Christopher Plummer and I am a Private First Class in the United States Army. It is possible that as an Eagle Scout I was predisposed toward patriotism and felt that enlisting in the military during a time of war was not only my duty but also the most likely path for me to follow.
Scouting influenced me in so many ways and I feel that it made me a better soldier and a better man. In the Army I follow a 
strict set of values that resemble the twelve points of the Scout Law. The seven Army Values of Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage are drilled into each soldier during basic training.
Due to my Scouting background I was living by these values for almost a decade before I met my Drill Sergeant. The dual training of Scouting and the Army have given me tools for a successful life. Learning and applying the twelve points of the Scout Law changed my life. Absorbing the Army’s seven values was an easy task because of my early training in the Scouts.
I joined the Army seeking order in my life and the brotherhood of Boy Sco
uts closely resembles the bonds soldiers share with one another. Since my deployment to Iraq I have found that I need the twelve points of the Scout Law, the seven Army Values of Loyalty and camaraderie with my fellow soldiers all mixed together with a heavy dose of hope. -PFC Christopher Plummer, 20, is currently deployed with the 3rd Squadron of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Baghdad, Iraq. He hails from the community of Katy, Texas, where his family and friends pray and await his safe return home.
STARTER HOME TRANSFORMED INTO LEGACY
For decades after moving from California to Houston, Annette and Tony Money retained their starter home in California as rental property. In later years, as it became time to simplify life, they looked at selling their first home. Originally purchased in 1958, their property had appreciated 23 times its original cost. Faced with federal and state capital
gains from it sale, the Money’s contacted their attorney to establish a Charitable Remainder Unit Trust.
After the Trust was established and title was properly recorded, the house was sold to fund the Trust. Monies received from the sale were invested into a diversified portfolio.The donation of their house to the trust allowed significant income tax deductions for several years AND annual draws from the trust (which in this case turned out to be more income than when they had rental checks coming in). A trust was established so that upon their deaths, the trust fund will fund two beneficiaries – providing meaningful support to the Sam Houston Area Council, Boy Scouts and Rotary International.
We are so grateful to Annette and Tony for their thoughtful generosity to future generations. Please call Jim Head at (713) 756-3319 to discuss this and other methods of legacy giving.
NHRA MODELED AFTER BOY SCOUTS
One could argue that drag racing was born in Goltry, Okla., in 1913, with the birth of Wally Parks, who nearly four decades later would found one of the most successful and influential sanctioning bodies in all of motorsports with the formation of the 
National Hot Rod Association in 1951. But how did Wally come to organize the NHRA?
Car clubs existed well before World War II with the focus being land speed events. Wally Parks, NHRA’s founder sensed a new need among restless post-war car racing enthusiasts but wasn’t quite sure how to organize it. In 1950 Wally Parks was chatting with a friend about what he envisioned confessing he really wasn’t sure where to start. Wally recalled saying, “We have so much to do. We’re not really 
patterned after anything.” A few moments later his friend produced a copy of the Boy Scout Handbook and said, “Here read this. It might help you.” He was right. It had an awful lot of good ideas. So we used the Boy Scouts to get started.”
Wally Parks is 91 years young today and is credited for taking a bunch of leather-jackets off the street and legitimizing them through the National Hot Rod Association which celebrates its 50th anniversary this next year. Is all of this the truth? Wally says, “Scouts Honor.”
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