Events surrounding my call as Scoutmaster of Troop 66
I was in the Mapleton 4th ward many years ago when te boundaries were changed and we got back into the ward several families with whom Marie and I had associated with in the 1st ward prior to the last change prior to this one. One of those families was the Lester Long family and another the Robert Arbon family. In the 4th ward I had been serving in the ward bishopric prior to my going to scout leader training (woodbadge) in 1986. About four months after I had attended Woodbadge Bishop Jan Wynn asked if I would be the Varsity Scout Coach and Teachers Quorum advisor. He told me that it was a lot easier to find counselors for a bishopric than to find dedicated scouters. I accepted the call and in early 1987 became a varsity coach. The ward boundary change came a short 9 months later and I found myself in the ward with two of my scouting Mentors Long and Arbon. I was worried sick because now I wouldn’t be in scouting or if I was I would be displacing Lester Long in the Varsity position in the ward. Well Bishop Anderson and Brother Everett came over to the house and visited with me as I was working on some things in the garage, I still hadn’t converted it into a den. They asked me to be the scoutmaster because Bob Arbon had been called as the ward clerk and they were in need of someone to take over the scouting position of Scout Master. I then became the Scout Master and felt very grateful to still have Brother Arbon in the ward and he continued to be a mentor to me because his youngest son Jimmy was one of my new scouts. These events were then when I really became involved in scouting as an adult again. I had been a cubmaster in our other ward but Woodbadge, Varsity Coach and the Scoutmaster set me on a course that would make it a lifetime love.
