Friday, November 28, 2014

Boy Scouts and Scoutmaster remembered - Letter from Fred Collins



Dear Editor,

This year one of my favorite persons went to be with his Lord. Why would I want to reveal that to the public? Well, I must say that this person introduced me to what became a lifelong obsession! 

It was a time in my life when a youngster needed guidelines to living. Most everything at the time, a mystery. How could a young boy handle situations that seemed so unrealistic? (The work horse died on our farm, the well went dry, a friend couldn’t walk and spent her life in a wheelchair) Truly, it was the formative years - lessons learned had a tendency to cling to one for a life time. 

This is why I have held the “Boy Scout program” in high esteem. Be prepared is our motto! Today as I live my life, I spend a great deal of attention on being prepared. 

Oh, sometimes the load becomes heavier, but you find more peace of mind, like putting a shovel in the car trunk and a bit of sand in the winter. Perhaps some trash bags if caught in a shower. When I was working I always had some rope: That helped when a stranger nearly lost his furniture that was about to fall from his trailer. 

To take the good and the bad as instruments of learning. (That man, whose spent body now lies under the worshipful pine trees, along the strong walls of strength that points to a man - my first and only Scoutmaster, Mac Lyons of Windham, Maine.) A man whose handshake was better than any contract! “That’s why I take great store in being a Scout!”

Scouter for over 76 years
Fred Collins
Westbrook

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