Genealogy Merit Badge

Dan Mazur "A Lasting Legacy"

2006-09-13T14:06:00.000-07:00

I was a Scout as a boy. I believe I made it to Star and was working on Life. Ours was an excellent troup and my time in the boy scouts was an important and positive part of growing up and still leaves a lasting impression on me.

Scouting was a great foundation for becoming an expedition leader. I started as a lowly tenderfoot and learned from the ground up how one can earn merit and advance to the higher levels through life. Those early lessons have propelled me and our teams to the summit of Everst, and back down again. Along the way, I have been blessed with opportunities to help others.

Its not always easy, but believe it or not, I still try everyday to be prepared to on my honor do my best, to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

Thanks again for giving me such a great opportunity to tell the story of the rescue of Lincoln Hall. photo courtesy Duane Morrison

Wikipedia account Rescued on Everest, 2006

Hall was thought to have died while descending from the summit of Mount Everest on May 25, 2006, after suffering from a form of altitude sickness leading to him hallucinating and becoming confused. According to reports, sherpas attempted a rescue for hours but, as night began to fall and with their oxygen supplies exhausted and suffering from snow blindness, they were ordered by expedition leader Alexander Abramov to leave an apparently dead Hall on the mountain and return to camp. A statement was later released announcing his death.[1]

However, the next morning at 7am (12 hours later) Hall was found still alive at 8700m by a team making a summit attempt - Daniel Mazur Team Leader (US), Andrew Brash (Canada), Myles Osborne (UK) and Jangbu Sherpa (Nepal). Myles Osborne described the scene just below the Second Step:

"Sitting to our left, about two feet from a 10,000 foot drop, was a man. Not dead, not sleeping, but sitting cross legged, in the process of changing his shirt. He had his down suit unzipped to the waist, his arms out of the sleeves, was wearing no hat, no gloves, no sunglasses, had no oxygen mask, regulator, ice axe, oxygen, no sleeping bag, no mattress, no food nor water bottle. 'I imagine you're surprised to see me here,' he said. Now, this was a moment of total disbelief to us all. Here was a gentleman, apparently lucid, who had spent the night without oxygen at 8600m, without proper equipment and barely clothed. And ALIVE."
A rescue effort that mountain observers described as 'unprecedented in scale' then swung into action. Dan Mazur and his team abandoned their summit attempt to stay with Hall who was badly frostbitten and delusional from the effects of severe cerebral oedema, while a rescue team of 12 Sherpas, despatched by Abramov, climbed up from below. The rescue team comprised Nima Wangde Sherpa, Passang Sherpa, Furba Rushakj Sherpa, Dawa Tenzing Sherpa, Dorjee Sherpa, Mingma Sherpa, Mingma Dorjee Sherpa, Pemba Sherpa, Pemba Nuru Sherpa, Passang Gaylgen Sherpa and Lakcha Sherpa.

Hall was brought down the mountain, walking the last part of the way to Everest's North Col where he was treated by a Russian doctor. Hall arrived at Advanced Base Camp the next day in reasonably good health although suffering frostbite and recovering from the effects of cerebral oedema.[2].

Hall's survival and rescue on the mountain while extraordinary is not unprecedented. But it was especially poignant due to the death days earlier of UK climber David Sharp who, suffering as Lincoln Hall was from cerebral oedema, had died nearby. It was observed that no attempt was made to rescue David Sharp, although it was apparent that he was still alive while other climbers passed him and continued on their own summit attempts. It would be unfair to draw exact parallels between the circumstances of the two cases, and it would be wrong to conclude on the basis of the evidence that Sharp would have survived long enough to be rescued. But the case had raised concerns, including comments from Sir Edmund Hillary. The thought of the fate of David Sharp would have been in the mind of all of those involved in the rescue of Lincoln Hall, just as the latter's survival cast a new perspective on the fate of the former. Dan Mazur perhaps summed things up best when he said, reflecting on his team abandoning their summit attempt, "The summit is still there and we can go back. Lincoln only has

Thursday, June 08, 2006
Climber gives up Everest summit to rescue man

BINAJ GURUBACHARYA - The Associated Press
KATMANDU, Nepal -- Just days after a British climber was left to die near Mount Everest's summit, a guide from Washington state abandoned his second bid to stand on top of the world so he could rescue a mountaineer mistakenly given up for dead.
Not only did Daniel Mazur not scale the world's highest peak from the northern side, he also failed to get his two paying clients to the top. "It was very disappointing for me to miss my chance at the summit, but even more that I could not get my job done," Mazur, of Olympia, Wash., told The Associated Press upon returning to Nepal's capital, Katmandu, on Thursday.
Mazur, his two clients and a Sherpa guide were just two hours from the 29,035-foot peak on the morning of May 26 when they came across 50-year-old Lincoln Hall, who was left a day earlier when his own guides believed he was dead.
"I was shocked to see a guy without gloves, hat, oxygen bottles or sleeping bag at sunrise at 28,200 feet height, just sitting up there," said Mazur, who scaled Everest once before, from the southern side, in 1991. Mazur said Hall's first words to him were: "I imagine you are surprised to see me here." Mazur said he knew Hall was OK because he was not crying for help and still had a sense of humor. Mazur's team spent the next four hours pulling Hall away from the slopes, giving him bottled oxygen, food and liquids. They also radioed the base camp to tell Hall's surprised team he was still alive.
While Mazur's team was busy assisting Hall, two Italian climbers walked past them toward the summit. When asked to help, they claimed they did not understand English. On his return to base camp, Mazur discovered they did.
"I don't know why they didn't want to stop to help," Mazur said. "I hope when I am there, in that state, and someone passes me ... I hope it is someone like me."
Hall's rescue came just days after David Sharp, 34, died May 15, about 1,000 feet into his descent from the summit. Dozens of people walked right past him, unwilling to risk their own ascents. By the time some Sherpas showed up to help get Hall back to base camp, Mazur, his clients and his guide were too exhausted to attempt the peak. They had no choice but to return without completing their climb. "We all looked at the summit and then returned," he said. "We all agreed there was no choice."
But Mazur had no regrets. "Oh yeah, it was worth it," he said. "You can always go back to the summit but you only have one life to live. If we had left the man to die, that would have always been on my mind. ... How could you live with yourself?"
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.

How can others help?

In June, a family medical team led by Dr. Philip and Chantal Heinegg and Arnold Coster, SummitClimb's 4 time Everest leader, just returned from their trek to a newhealth clinic we are helping to foster in Nepal, the world's 12th poorestcountry and the poorest country in Asia, near to Mt Everest in a very poverty-stricken valley where tourists never tread and where there are no doctors, no medical facilities, no school teachers, no roads, no electrity
and no phones.

Some of the patients walked or hobbled for two days to get a chance to see the doctors. It's in a district called Okhaldunga, a valley where 4000 people toil on the steep Himalayan foothills of Everest. Not only did our medical team see nearly 100 patients in one day during their visit, some of whom had severe injuries that had been left untreated for months, they also donated a new solar panel and medical supplies. The clinic is part of efforts by the Mount Everest Foundation for Sustainable Development of Nepal and Tibet. We are trying to help them raise funds to help poor families living on the "wrong side" of Mt. Everest to get health care so they can go back to work in the fields and survive in their own village and raise their children with dignity, rather than migrating to the teeming unemployed slums of Kathmandu. If you are interested, please visit
www.MountEverestFoundation.org , and please consider sending a donation cheque to: Mount Everest Foundation, POB 123, Lakebay, WA, 98349. Thank you very much.

Dan

Final Words from Grandma Eva B. Israelsen to her posterity

2006-02-07T13:57:00.000-08:00

I have a large family. I had 11 children to start with. Eight of them reached maturity. I have 67 grandchildren, 221 great-grandchildren. I heard President Hinckley say the other day when he was speaking about the various phases of life, “Now we have reached the golden years, but they are laced with lead.” I guess maybe that is a good description.

I’m happy, and I don’t think I am afraid of death, but I don’t like to contemplate what might happen before I get there.

I have such a wonderful family. I have appreciated each one of them, and I hope they all realize how much I love my family. One of the things that has been bothering me is to know how I am going to say goodbye to my family here, and yet I have many of my family on the other side who are precious to me. My great responsibility I feel at this time is to bring all of my family together, and I think that is possible if each one of you can live according to our Heavenly Father’s great Plan of Salvation.

I know it is going to be hard for all of us to say goodbye. Death is part of living, just as much as birth. It all comes in the Great Plan of Salvation. Our Heavenly Father has put out this blueprint for us to follow as we build our lives. Let’s all be working to that same end, that we may all meet again in a happier sphere, even though our lives here have been very happy, there will be a happier one still if we can keep the commandments.

I’ve been asked to bear my testimony, and I’ll be happy to do that. I have a very strong and abiding testimony. I’m so grateful that the gospel was on the earth when I came to live here. The gospel has meant so much to me in my life. I’m grateful that Joseph Smith was so faithful in the work he did for us, and some day I hope to meet him and tell him how much I appreciate what he did for us all.

I’m grateful for the prophet at the present time, and I would say to my children and my grandchildren: Listen to the Prophet. He will never lead you astray. If you listen to what he has to say, he will always lead you in the right direction.

I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t know that He is there to help us. I know that we all make mistakes, but if we put our trust in the Savior, He will help us through.

I’m grateful that we have a chance to repent of the things that we do that are wrong. I would advise all of you to stay really close to the Lord. Know that He is your greatest friend on the earth, our Father and his son, Jesus. How great they are, and how grateful I am for the Holy Ghost and for His influence in our lives. I think that is one of the greatest blessings we have, to know that the Holy Ghost can help us and to prompt us through this life. I say these things humbly in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

O, My Father, thou that dwellest, in that high and glorious place,
When shall I regain thy presence and again behold thy face?
When I leave this frail existence, when I lay this mortal by,
Father, Mother, may I meet you in your royal courts on high?
And at length when I’ve completed all you sent me forth to do,
With your mutual approbation, Let me come and dwell with you!

Eva May Butler passed away on Sept. 30, 1999

The ScoutMaster who changed my life by Rulon Skinner

2006-01-23T07:37:00.000-08:00

The Tuesday after I was twelve years old, Dad announced at the breakfast table that come evening after the milking and chores were done he and I would go to Boy Scout meeting and I could become a boy scout.

Dad was assistant scoutmaster at the time to Frank Booth, formed Three G Council was headquartered in Safford. Previously the area had been part of the Theodore Roosevelt Council headquartered at Phoenix, Arizona. What dad didn't know and I didn't want to tell him was that I didn't want to be a Boy Scout, and had no intentions of becoming one.

I had heard at church and school what Boy Scouts did, and I didn't want any part of it. I had been told that there were boys from 12 to 18 years of age in Troop 120 and the older boys made it tough on the younger boys. I had been told that the older boys were boy leaders in the troop and when anyone made a mistake or goofed off in any way--old or young-- that one of the leaders would yell " Belt Line!" Immediately the boys(about 30 or so) in the troop would form two lines, whip off their leather belts, and spread out far enough so each Scout could get a good swing with his belt at the one who had made a mistake or goofed off. The boy at fault would run as fast as he could through the belt line with boys swinging their leather belts hitting his rear as hard as they could. If any boy refused to actively participate in the belt line, then he went through the belt line. If the boy at fault refused to run through the line, he would be held in a standing bent over position while every other boy in the troop hit him hard on the rear with his leather belt.

I also understood that the Scouts in Troop 120 did a lot of marching in preparing for the day they would be in the army. The year was 1943. The United States had been in World War 2 since Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941. In 1943 the war was not going well for the United States in the Pacific. There seemed to be the prevailing feeling that most of us boys would be in the army before the war ended. The thought was we should be as prepared as possible.

I didn't like belt lines because I wasn't as big and as tough as the other guys at my age, let alone all those older guys. Besides, I was a farm boy and didn't know much about marching and drill. I could see myself making endless mistakes marching and because of them have to go through the belt line.

I didn't say anything to Dad at breakfast the Tuesday after I turned 12 years old because I knew he was assistant scoutmaster and wanted his son to be a Boy Scout. I worried about it all day. By milking and chore time I had finalized my plan in mind so I wouldn't have to be a Boy Scout. I hoped it worked.

My plan was simple and workable -- at least in the mind of a 12 year old. I would do my share of the chores, as usual but when they were nearly completed I would lag behind Dad when he went from the barn to the house. Then I would hide in the secluded hideout I had at the time in the haystack (no bales of hay) where the cows had gotten in and ate up under the stack. Enough hay from above in the stack had fallen over the opening so there was more than enough space for a 12 - year old boy to crawl in, hide, be able to see out, but no one knew there was a secret hideout there. My plan was to stay in my hiding place until Dad went up the road in the Motel T Ford past the haystack to Scout Meeting. Then I would come out and stay home with Mother as I had up until now.

Scoutmaster Booth made a mistake after introducing Mr. Perin. He asked him if he had said anything to us. Bob Perin sprang to his feet, said, " Yes, put the boys on the floor sitting in front of the stage and I'll be back in a minute."

The next we saw Bob Perin, he opened the curtains, dumped a box of rope in the middle of the open, empty stage, used the ropes to tell three stories of how Scouts knowing knots and the hitch to tie up the great magician Houdini. Two other former Scouts had saved their lives in war with the proper use of knots and ropes.

I sat spellbound as Bob Perin opened the whole new world of Scouting in my mind and heart. We repeated the Scout oath to end the meeting. I'm sure I would have not been a scout very long and certainly never a professional Scouter!

Bob Perin had made such an impression on my boyhood mind that I determined to be a scout and craved for the opportunity to just be around him. From that point on, it didn't matter about belt lines, marching, the fact that my patrol leader, Max Hancock, flunked me three times in my tenderfoot requirements before I knew them well enough to satisfy him, I wanted to be a Scout and be a good one. I never wanted to miss a Scout meeting.

After two or three good years of Scouting with Scoutmasters Booth, Allred, And (Bernard) Clawson, Bob Perin knew about me. He knew me as the boy who ate, drank, and lived Scouting more than any other boy in the entire council.

About the time I was 14 or 15, I went to Bob Perin's small Council Office in Safford on the second story of the only bank building in town and volunteered to do all his janitorial work for him. I just wanted to be around him all I could. He accepted and tried to pay me. I refused, telling him I was doing my Good Turn and a Scout couldn't take pay for doing a Good Turn. He eventually got even a little when he brought by the house and gave me a small pup tent and sleeping bag which were war surplus and told me he couldn't take them back.

When I turned 15 years of age, I applied for a summer camp staff position to be around Bob Perin. He took me and trained me to be a good camp staff member. Long before I was old enough (according to Boy Scouts of America standards), he had me directing Camp Snow Flats, the Council's Summer Camp on Mt. Graham, in his absence and being assistant camp director when he was there. He gave me the feeling he trusted me and knew I would try to do things just the way he would do them.

By this time I had decided that I wanted to be a professional Scouter like Bob Perin after my mission and graduation from college. I told Bob Perin of my plans and he tried many times to talk me out of it. He would tell me about the long hours, long weeks, frequent transfers to a new council, and low pay. The more he talked and the more I watched him perform as our Scout Executive, the more determined I was to become a professional Scouter!

I enjoyed my 15th year as patrol leader of the Pine Tree Patrol. By the time I was 16, our patrol was outshining the other patrols so much that the scoutmaster had a problem on his hands. How could he keep the rest of the troop excited and active in Scouting. He finally decided with the troop committee that I would be "forced" to become an Explorer Scout--meet with the Explorers and give up my patrol! I was very disappointed. However, by this time I was a senior in high school, and very active in high school activities. Besides I was Council Reporter for the Graham County Guardian.

One of the experiences we had as the Pine Tree Patrol was establishing that a good Scout does not curse or swear. It seemed like most of the boys and I didn't want my seven 12-year olds to continue to curse or swear. I had read in a Scouting book that the way Baden-Powell, founder of Scouting, taught boys not to swear was to establish a rule against it in the troop. If any scout in the troop cursed or swore, then the rest of the boys in the troop were to hold him down until a glass of cold water had been poured down one of his shirt sleeves. On one occasion, I talked with the Pine Tree Patrol about adopting the practice in an effort to eliminate cursing and swearing from the lives of any of our Scouts. They all agreed. They all agreed that it would be anytime--not just at Scouts, but school, church, play. It only took two or three occasions when someone in the Pine Tree Patrol slipped and cursed or swore and the other patrol members held him down, ignoring pleas for another chance and poured cold water down his sleeve to eliminate cursing and swearing from all of the boys' lives.

Our troop went on troop camps several times during the year. I remember a special experience on one of these camps held near the base of the Graham Mountains. It was a Friday evening and Saturday overnighter. We got to camp and put out our sleeping bags. I don't remember using tents most of the time. It seldom rained in Arizona. On this camp out, the special part for me came at the end of the Friday evening campfire. We sat on large cottonwood logs in a circle around the campfire ( about 20 scouts ). There were songs and stories. Then near the end, Scoutmaster Frank Booth stood to give us a Scoutmaster minute ( something to think about as we went to bed ). Frank was an older man and I didn't know it until years later, but had not been active at church or in the Scouts until just before I became a Scout. He previously had bad problems with smoking and drinking. He stood at that night as our Scoutmaster and in his crude, rough way gave a scoutmaster's minute that I never forgot. It didn't even take a minute. He said " Before very long you boys will all have ot make decisions--important decisions-- that will affect your lives forever. Among the things you will have to decide is whether you will smoke or drink. I'm telling you-- DON'T EVER DO IT! When you want to know why you should not smoke or drink, don't do it because old Frank said so!" That was it!

A few years later I had to make the decisions just like Frank talked about-- whether I would smoke or drink. I decided not to ever smoke or drink. It wasn't because I had been taught at home (and I had) not to smoke or drink. It wasn't because I had been taught at church (and I had) not to smoke or drink. It was because old Frank said not too--and I loved old Frank!

ScoutMaster Rulon Skinner

What are your family stories of honor and heritage?

2005-12-20T18:24:00.000-08:00

Are you proud of your heritage? Do you have a parent or grandparent who has influenced your life? if so, what story or event has forever helped guide you in life? Are you willing to take a moment and submit it for inclusion on our website or on this blog?

Scouting values which were reinforced by a leader or family member need to be preserved and passed to the future leaders of our world. Please join with us in submitting and helping preserve these traditional and timeless values.

What are the health issues your parents or grandparents faced as they have grown older? Have you heard of Family Health History month? Not only is learning about your heritage a wonderful opportunity to grow closer to your family, but discussions about healthy lifestyle should be part of this family time.

Today, Traditional Scouting Values are under attack. (link1)
Many of today's key decision makers were involved in scouting when they were young.(link2) The lessons they learned have carried them through life's challenges. How has your life has been influenced by a leader or scouting value? Our goal is to capture, preserve and pass traditional scouting values from generation to generation, let's start with 1,000,000 stories as a goal!

http://www.bsalegal.org/2005jamb-228.htm

Hans Zeiger, Eagle Scout, Author-Get Off My Honor

2005-12-19T10:21:00.000-08:00

"My great grandfather was a Boy Scout in Illinois in the early days of the organization, and my grandpa and his brother were Scouts, and my father and his three brothers were Scouts.

My uncle is an Eagle, and he still organizes most of the summer hikes. One of my brothers is a Life Scout, and my other brother is working on the Star rank. Three of my cousins are Eagle Scouts. I am an Eagle Scout.

I got involved in Troop 174 because my grandpa really didn't expect me to do otherwise. It's a family tradition, and I have every hope of taking my own sons to the local Scout lodge when it's time. Scouting helps the family to teach self-government. America's future depends upon that."

Hans Zeiger, Eagle Scout and Author of

Get Off My Honor: The Assault on the Boy Scouts of America

www.hanszeiger.net

Alan Osmond and Strengthening Families

2005-12-15T18:11:00.000-08:00

This is Alan Osmond with the One Heart Foundation for "Strengthening Families".
We support the values of scoutmedia.org and are looking for some positive experiences that you have had with your family that might help others.

With more than 28,000,000 scouts in the world there are many stories which have not been told. If the stories are not preserved from what source will the future generations learn? Pop artists use media to share their values, what are we doing to preserve our values.

As you know, the media often portrays and views family life a little differently than many of us . . . who have had great parents, a wonderful childhood, and now, children of our own. Would you mind sharing some of those values and experiences that have impacted your life and made a difference in becoming who you are today? Please click on the pencil icon to add your story.

Sincerely,
Alan Osmond

Why Genealogy for Scouts?

2005-12-11T09:10:00.000-08:00

What are your thoughts about scouts earning the genealogy merit badge?

Is this just an exercise to track down a name or is there a reason bigger than this behind the activity?

Personal Video History

2005-12-08T12:21:00.000-08:00

What do you think about getting every boy scout to video tape someone who is important or who has taught them a scouting principle which has helped them be successful in their life. What are the guiding principles and stories behind these values?

What if we could compress these, preserve and share these stories?

go to www.scoutmedia.org/testinonials.aspx for text samples

go to www.scoutmedia.org to register and download video samples.

If we don't utilize the media tools in this fashion, these timeless values may not make it deep into the hearts of the next generation.

Faith
Family
Freedom

Molecular Genealogy can confirm pedigree information

2005-11-09T21:45:00.000-08:00

For Release: 11-09-05

James LeVoy Sorenson to Receive The Family Award from One Heart Foundation

Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation will offer in-kind DNA analysis donation to the Boy
Scouts’ Trapper Trails Council

SALT LAKE CITY (November 9, 2005) - The Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF), a non-profit
organization dedicated to fostering global family history research and family connections by building the
world’s premier database of correlated genetic and genealogical information, today announced that SMGF
founder James LeVoy Sorenson will receive The Family Award from the One Heart Foundation in recognition
for his work in connecting families around the world through genealogy and DNA analysis and for providing
tools that encourage Boy Scouts to earn the Boy Scouts of America’s Genealogy merit badge.

The Family Award recognizes individuals who make outstanding contributions to strengthening families. Past
recipients include Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Martina and John McBride, author Alex Haley,
Fred Rogers of the Mr. Rogers television show, talk show host Sean Hannity, and George and Olive Osmond.
More information on the award, including a complete list of recipients, can be found at
http://www.thefamily.com/award.asp.

The 2005 award will be presented at the 17th Annual “High Seas” Action Auction of the Trapper Trails
Council of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), which covers a large segment of Northern Utah and Southern
Wyoming. The event, which helps raise money for the Council’s operations, activities and training programs,
will be held Saturday, November 12, 2005 at the Davis Convention Center in Layton, Utah. The auction is
open to the general public. There will be a silent auction from 4:30 p.m., followed by a holiday dinner at
6:30 and a live auction at 7:30. Doug Wright of KSL Radio will serve as master of ceremonies and
auctioneer, joined by guest celebrities Alan Osmond and Kent Norton. The cost for the event is $50.

“We are honored to recognize James Sorenson for his tireless and generous support of family and scouting
values and causes,” said Alan Osmond, co-founder of One Heart, Inc., an international non-profit
organization dedicated to strengthening families by raising funds, producing events and publishing family-
friendly content that increase awareness and support for significant family-related issues.

“Mr. Sorenson is a pioneer in creating technologies and organizations that further the ability of families to
connect across generations,” added Mark Allen, CEO and founder of ScoutMedia, who worked in conjunction
with the Sorenson Companies to produce a new CD for Boy Scouts that fuels interest in family history and
genealogy. “No one is more deserving of this award more than he is.”

“We are proud to support the values and activities of the Scouting organization and the One Heart
Foundation in furthering family connections throughout the world through genealogy and genetic analysis,”
said Mr. Sorenson.

At the Trapper Trails event, Mr. Sorenson will also announce a $20,000 in-kind contribution that will provide
free DNA testing and analysis to Boy Scouts who apply for the service through the Foundation’s Web site,
http://www.smgf.org. This service is not limited to those in the Trapper Trails Council, but is available to all
Boy Scouts worldwide.

For more information about the Trapper Trails 2005 Auction, interested individuals should visit
http://www.trappertrails.org/pdfdocs/auction05.pdf.

About Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation

Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF) is a non-profit research organization that collects and
analyzes DNA samples in order to create the world's most comprehensive correlated genetic and
genealogical database. SMGF’s database uses sophisticated DNA analysis to link individuals together,
allowing public access to the database while maintaining strict confidentiality of participants’ information.
Information is available at the Foundation’s Web site, http://www.smgf.org.

About One Heart Foundation

One Heart, Inc., co-founded by Alan and Suzanne Osmond, is a 501(c)(3) international non-profit
organization dedicated to strengthening families by publishing content, raising funds, producing events with
“more than entertainment” and in bringing awareness and resolve to family issues. With headquarters in
Orem, Utah, One Heart's mission is to “strengthen individuals by providing guiding principles that unite
families and society through faith, courage, love, commitment, truth, and integrity.” Information about One
Heart can be found at http://www.oneheart.org.

About ScoutMedia

ScoutMedia is a non-profit organization that partners with the OneHeart Foundation (501c3) to produce
media tools for Boy Scout leaders to compete effectively in an increasingly digital world. ScoutMedia tools
are supplemental to scouting programs found throughout the world, and are designed to help capture and
pass along traditional values from leaders around the world. Information about ScoutMedia can be found at
http://www.scoutmedia.org.

Press Contact

David Parkinson
Sorenson Companies Public Relations
801.287.9472

2005-01-02T14:22:00.000-08:00

David B. Haight on Scouting-

Those were exciting years in my life. When you’re moving out
of little boyhood and by the time you become a deacon you’re becoming a
man. I was a man around our house with my mother. My mother would
remind me that her husband was dead and my older brothers had left the
coop. You know you leave little towns to live. So I’m the head man. And
I had the chores to do and the lawns to take care of and the garden to
take care of and we sold milk to the neighbors and to deliver the milk
to the neighbors. But I had, by the time I’m twelve years old, I have
responsibilities and accountability at twelve years old. We didn’t have
drugs. We didn’t have automobiles. We didn’t have motorcycles. We were
out in a little country town where you make your own fun. You
manufacture them. You learn to play ‘kick the can’, and ‘run sheepy
run’, when in the evening under the light from the streetlight, the
electric lightpole, you have your own fun. But all of a sudden, but in
that process you’re developing responsibility because my mother would
say to me, “David, you’re the man of the house now.” Twelve years old.
And so, the cows have to be milked, the pig fed, the eggs gathered from
the chickens, and deliver the milk and we don’t have separaters -- it’s
all raw milk. But it was the image of my mother trusting me that was a
great influence in my life because I knew that she believed in me. And
so that I would not do, I wouldn’t do something that I thought would
make her disappointed in me because of trust that she had in me.

Anyway, scouting comes along. And so, you’re a tenderfoot scout for a
year back in those years. And you really get into it and you learn the
details and you read all that you can about Ernest Thompson Seaton
and Dan Baird who introduced scouting into America. Scouting
started in India when the British army was there in occupation in India
years ago. They didn’t have anything to do so they developed things.
Scouting came out of it. Well, then scouting came to America. The point
I’m making is that you’re a tenderfoot for a year. You’re a second
class scout for a year. You’re a first class scout for a year and then
you go to work on merit badges. Now rather than do it the way we did it
back in those days. Now a smart boy can come along at twelve years old
and become a tenderfoot scout and in a week he’s a second class scout
and another week he’s a first class scout and then he starts getting
merit badges and so he’s run the gamut. He’s become a scout and now he
loses interest in it because we let him go through it so fast. Go
through it.

The idea of scouting fits into the Church I think just like a glove. As
an example, I remember the Scout Oath. I remember, “Upon my honor I
will do my best.” I learned this 85 years ago. “Upon my honor I will do
my best: First, to do my duty to God and my country and obey the scout
law; Second, to help other people at all times; Third, to keep myself
physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.” You can take
the gospel message, the plan of salvation, and almost wrap your arms
around the Scout Oath. Or the Scout Oath wrapped around the other way.
Because it talks about “Upon my honor I’ll do my best to do my duty to
God, my country, be loyal, and the Scout laws of being trustworthy,
loyal, friendly, courteous, obedient, thrifty, clean, brave, and
reverent.” All of those things. And so, scouting when I was a young
deacon and teacher became part of my life along with learning about the
Priesthood on Sunday and during the week we would, our scoutmaster was
a blacksmith. We’d go down to the blacksmith shop and watch him fix
those shoes and bend them to fit a horse’s on a horse’s foot. But he
was our scoutmaster. It all came to good. It all
came about in a way that helped me to want to be an honorable
individual because of the Scout Oath and the Priesthood.
And so you’re a deacon, and so we would sweep
the meeting house out. We would fill the coal buckets by the little
stoves. We didn’t have central heat in them. We would rake the walk,
the gravel walks, going into the meeting house. We had duties and
things to do at Church or with my mother at home, taking care of the
cows and taking care of the garden and taking care of mowing the lawn
and so on. And so I was occupied. We didn’t have an automobile. I
didn’t have a bicycle. We walked to things. But you made your own fun.
But you enjoyed it as you went along. But you would be, as I’ve watched
scouting through the years, we’ve let scouting become a monster and you
can go through scouting in a weekend and then you look around and say,
“Now, what else is there for me to do?” -- Because we digest it so fast
that we miss a lot of the good that’s in it because you go through it
so fast. You want to get to the dessert right fast you know.

Anyway, you were talking about scouting. But scouting became a great
part of my life, because it was so compatible with the Priesthood. But
scouting was the activity. So we’d hitch up a wagon or a buggy and go
up in the mountains and go on little camping trips and so on in a crude
way back in those days. But it was fun and sport and you enjoyed every
bit of it. But you would have to do it yourself. But you would develop
ingenuity. You would develop ways of solving problems. And you would
begin to understand the first great commandment – is to love Deity with
all your heart, might, mind and strength. And the second one is like
the first one – you love your neighbor as much as you love this little
guy. And so you learn an association with people because that’s the
second great commandment. And so life is one of where we work with
people. We learn to communicate. To learn the language of whatever land
you’re living in, communicate, discuss things, learn the golden rule --
treat other people the way you would want to be treated -- but scouting
all fits into it. Now, I see your young people say “Oh, they’re not
involved in scouting. It doesn’t hold magic for them anyway anymore.”
It’s because we go through it too fast. We zip through it. In the early
days of scouting, I think you had to be a tenderfoot a year. And then
you would qualify to be a second class scout. And then a first class
scout. And when I got a first class badge and put it on a scout hat
that I won because I had the cleanest yard in town. I won a uniform,
first one we’d ever seen. And I put the first class badge on that
Northwest Mounted Police stiff hat, and I’d go downtown to get the mail
for my mother and when I’d wear that hat, General Eisenhower couldn’t
have been prouder than I was when he had 5 stars on his shoulder, but I
had that first class badge on my hat. But that was, you’d stay in it
long enough to really understand what it’s all about. And try to get
the good out of it. Now we ruin it.

You destroy the value of it. You destroy it because you
haven’t had time to think about it very much. I remember I only I had a
merit badge in swimming. And they were just beginning to come out with
merit badges. This would be when, you know, when scouting, we would
select a name for our patrol and you would learn to do the call of the
bird that used to be in there. And but you would take time to do those
things. Today, we zip through them so fast. I think that we’ve ruined
scouting just by making what was a three or four year process, do it in
a weekend.

Our sons all went through scouting
because it was so important to me when I was growing up. But I don’t
think they enjoyed it as much as I did. It was brand new to me. It was
a brand new program on the horizon and the Church was just getting into
it. Oscar Kirkham in Salt Lake City was the number one Boy Scout in the
Church and he used to go around to Stake Conferences and wear his scout
uniform and wear it to Church. And, but he was a great scouter, and a
great enthusiastic boys men. We’ve, we go through it so fast, we don’t
get deep enough in the well to understand the good that’s in it.