Thank you!

This is the speech that I gave at the leader appreciation dinner last night....

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for being here tonight. It is awesome to see so many of you tonight. It warms my heart to know you care. I hope you are enjoying reconnecting with everyone as much as I have tonight.  The stories and pictures we have shared here tonight is just a testament to the great fun we had as a Troop family.  I have been honored for 40 years to be the leader of this group, something VERY FEW people ever do for that long.  I think I can say what I have done here will be my life legacy.  Some people’s legacy is they have their children, but as a few of you have told me over the years, the Troop kids are like my own.  I always would say, I skipped the PARENT stage and went right to the Grandparent stage.  You know, get them once a week, take them for a weekend here and there maybe even a week or two, but most importantly get them sugared up on a Monday night and send them back home and let their parents deal with them!! Some nights, I think the parents did that to me as payback!

Besides the Troop I have been part of the scouts’ family by attending confirmations, and graduation parties, have attended weddings, stood up in their weddings, been a set of ears to listen and support them, I have been their counselor, confidant and friend.  And they have been mine as well.  Sadly I have been through some tough times too, including helping a few scouts who lost a parent, maybe divorces, helped a few through drug problems and rehab. I have attended a few funerals, and given a couple eulogies as well. I have shed tears for them and with them. I have laughed with them and I have cheered with them, I have become part of their family as well.  I helped a bunch get Eagle Scout or maybe some other goal they wanted to achieve. I have watched scouts, learn to swim, learn to cook, learn to communicate, learn to lead and learn the values of the Scout Oath and Law.  I got to watch it all, it has been the best TV reality show you can watch, so many times with tears of joy and pride.

So I have reflected back on my forty years, I have done a ton of things.  As mentioned, I have watched 107 Scouts earn their Eagle Scout award totaling over 12,000 hours of service,  I have watched many others who gained so much no matter how far they have gone in scouting. My estimated calculations are I have probably camped something like 240 campouts, 772 nights of camping, 550-day outings, backpacked over 500 miles at Philmont over 8 trips, I attended Summer camp for 38 years, handled over a million dollars in wreath products, been to countless training courses including FIRST AID and CPR, managed 46 Eagle Court of Honors hosting 5700 guests, biked over 300 miles on scout trips, watch scouts become OA lodge Chiefs and other OA positions, nurtured two Senior Patrol Leaders for  Junior Leadership Training Conferences,  watched others go on to regional level leadership positions. I have watched many scouts and adults serve on camp staff and even mentored a few camp staff members on the side for fun. I have watched other troop adults serve on leadership development courses, and run district, council, and even regional events.  I have attended 1600 troop meetings, I think 100 of them were egg-drop night. Blanket ball and popsicle stick project a close second.  I have attended 400 PLC meetings, 400 committee meetings, I have done a ton of Scoutmaster Conferences and a feeeeew F-Talks. Not to mention the hours and hours of service.  I have led the festival scout cleanup for probably 30 years and the list goes on. When someone asked me, “ Why are you quitting, I said what the heck/hell, isn’t 40 years enough!! I am tired!!!  It has been a great run and I am proud for what has been accomplished in Scouting these 40 years!!!  Thank you for trusting me as your leader for all those years.

So with that, I would really like to talk about why I have been here for all those years.  I would never have done this alone, I have done all this with the help of SOOOO many people. A this time, I would ask that anyone who has served as a Leader of this TROOP either on the committee, as a youth or otherwise please stand up. (wait for it).  YOU are why I am here, why I was able to accomplish all this, and why Troop 161 has been a great troop for so many years, it's not me, it's YOU!!!!!  Ever heard the statement, Not my circus, not my monkeys, well it was my circus!!

I encourage all who have been scouts or adults to maybe pick out at least 2 or 3 people standing tonight and go up to them after the meeting say thanks, not just as a thank you, tell them a story your are thankful about, tell them what they did that you are thank-ful for, something that makes then special to you, maybe it was teaching you to tie a knot, maybe it was they helped you with a project or maybe helped you set your tent back up after a rain, maybe even felt better when you were home sick. Be specific if you can, if not, just say thanks, the paychecks of leaders is based solely on the appreciation of you for their service to the troop, none of them were paid to do what they did.

  To show the dedication of this group that standing before us tonight, I could not begin to count the hours or years of service they have provided to the Troop and to me as Scoutmaster. We are going to do a little exercise, at the beginning of the ceremony, I had our older scouts tell you to think about the number of years you served, I knew it would take some math to figure out, so I think I have given you plenty of time. I challenge anyone here to total this up. So all those that have served 3 years or less, please sit down, thank  you for your service, 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years …….   THAT my friends, is why I stayed in this program so long, it has been the great friendships of so many people for so many years that kept me going. Thank you all for being my wingperson over the years, we have done great things together you can be proud of the men you have created out of the boys we have worked with!!!  Lets give all these people a round of applause!

 Two honorable mentions, not here tonight that I would like to bring to your attention, those two would be two assistant Scoutmasters who served with me for many years, Mr. Tom Kiley and Mr. Terry Williams.  Those two assistant scoutmasters were always there to hold me up and carry me through some of the bumps in the road, I miss their banter and discussion about not only Scouting but other things as well.  They always kept me grounded when I needed it the most.  I have always told scouts, that a scout is one bad meeting away from quitting, that is also true of adult leaders too.  Along the way, I have thrown my uniform on the ground and mumbled I QUIT, trust me, this is NOT one of those times.  This time is because as the Wood Badge song says, I am growing old and feeble, and I can Eagle no more”  I am tired and it is time for others to step up and have these great experiences, I am fairly certain it won't be for 40 years, but I hope it’s a while.

There is one other group I would like to thank tonight, and that is my family, would you please stand?  This is just a sampling of my family, but they have given up a lot for me to be here for  40 years. I have missed family activities, birthdays and other things because of scouting.  They have supported me all the way, thank you for SHARING me with the Troop for 40 years, for generation three, Most of them don’t remember Uncle Tim NOT being a Scoutmaster.  Do you realize how many puns and dad jokes they missed at all the family gatherings because I was not there??  Would you please  give them a round of applause, you may be seated

Thank you family for being supportive.  I would also like to thank my parents, my dad was in scouting with me as a youth and both mom and dad always supported me and told me how proud they were of me and what I was doing. I often saw a tear in their eyes when I was recognized for something.  I think they were disappointed they didn’t get any grandkids from me, but at times they had a house full of Scouts out at the cottage either skiing or doing leadership training weekends. My parents are the ones who made 80-90% of the banners on the wall and did other things all the time. They raised the whole family to be good people, my parents used the Scout Law and Oath as a family code, maybe not formally, but we knew it was what they expected. Love you Mom and Dad, the family misses you, and I know you are watching down on us tonight with pride.

Once again, I thank all of you, I know there are more I should thank tonight, but I will do that privately, so I don’t miss anyone. If I do, I apologize. Like I said before, we have had a good run, cherish it and remember it fondly, and share it with others. Keep the bonds you made in scouting strong, they are good friends to have, and I hope all of you will keep me in your circle now that I step away from the Scoutmaster role in June. You are great people!!   Thank you!