One characteristic shared by adults who volunteer to work with the Boy Scouts is enthusiasm.
Adult volunteers enjoy scouting activities as much as the boys and young men in the program — and they aren't shy about saying so.
Assistant scoutmasters Dan Hill and Bobby Heinen are good examples. Both men could have been warm at home Saturday, but chose to stand in a cold Christmas tree lot with five boys from their troop, talking about what keeps them in scouting.
"I'd tell anyone who wants to volunteer how much fun it is," Dan Hill said. "Seeing (the Scouts) learn and grow and become young men we can be proud of, and knowing that you've helped with that, that's what I'd tell them."
Like Hill, Bobby Heinen was a Scout as a boy. His father's death meant Heinen had to give up scouting to work on the family farm. "It's hard to be a Scout out in the country all alone," Wright said. Working as an adult volunteer, with his sons in the program, Wright said he is enjoying the scouting he missed.
Daryll Dunlap, district commissioner for the Anasazi district, which includes San Juan County, can list facts and figures: how many young men are in the program, how the need for troop leaders never exceeds the demand and what Scouts in the district
"Scouting makes a difference," Dunlap said. "We see a shy, bashful young man, not much confidence in himself, and in six months, he's leading the group."
"We know of cases where someone has resisted joining a gang because they were involved in scouting," Dunlap said.
"For almost a century," according to the Great Southwest Council Web site, (www.doubleknot.com),
Anasazi district executive and Eagle Scout Trenton Kelling, left a high paying job in the oil field to work as a full time scouting professional
"I'm making less than the cut in pay I took, but I knew I wanted to be in this field," Keeling said. "My wife encouraged me to go for it."
"We train leaders," Dunlap said. "We don't push. In fact, the Scouts do most of the work themselves. We give them the training, we give them the supervision and they run with it."
Keeling said adults involved in scouting believe in the program and they want to encourage the right kind of volunteers to join them. There is no question that standards for Scouts and the volunteers who work with them are high.
"The young men who go into scouting are there because they want to be," Dunlap said. "We get the best, the top young men."
Scouting hopes to attract top volunteers as well and, according to Keeling, does everything possible to ensure their success.
Keeling explained that scouting was a early adopter of the latest training technology. Internet tutorials are available and must be renewed every year. Training at the district and council level is available to develop skills and keep them sharp.
"The organization does everything necessary to provide a safe environment for Scouts and volunteers," Keeling said.
It is an unfortunate sign of the times that a percentage of Scout funds must be spent performing state and federal criminal background checks on volunteers.
Scouting welcomes qualified volunteers with many different set of skills.
"People say, Oh, I can't volunteer because I can't go camping,' but there's other opportunities," Dunlap said. "One troop is learning about the law from Judge (Gary) Risley."
The Scouts seek funding and leadership for a troop interested in learning about medicine as a career, and they want to expand the Venture program, which offers white water rafting, hiking, horseback riding and other challenging activities for ages
14 to 20. The Venture program is co-ed.
For these plans to succeed, however, scouting needs more adult involvement.
"We need busy people," Dunlap said. "They are the ones who know how to
manage their time, who get things done. We don't want to turn boys away because we haven't got the troop leaders or the people to support them."
The Anasazi Boy Scout District is looking for a community leader to serve as district chairman.
Adult volunteers also are needed for troops in Kirtland and the Dzilth-Na-O-Dith-Hle area.
For more information on becoming an adult volunteer, contact Anasazi district executive, Trenton D. Keeling, at tkeeling@bsamail.org or call (505) 860-4247.
Elaine Martin:
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