Woodbadge Course Director — 1995
One of the great experiences of my life occurred in March and April of 1995, that being the opportunity I had to be the Course Director for the Varsity/Explorer Woodbadge Course held at Camp Tracy in the spring of 1995. I will attempt to recount some of the special feelings and experiences that accompanied this great event.
Late in 1993 I was asked to attend the Course Directors’ Conference with a wonderful friend of mine and I served as Assistant Course Director on my friend’s course in 1994. I was honored, knowing that this meant I would then serve as Course Director in 1995. I was quite surprised, because I had not served as either Quartermaster or Captain on previous courses, which traditionally has been prerequisite to serving as a Course Director. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I gladly accepted the invitation. I began to make preliminary preparations for my course in the summer of 1994, such as deciding on a gift for my staff, considering potential staff members, and organizing my paperwork. The Course Director conferences I attended in 1993 and 1994 were very informative. The Area Woodbadge Coordinator was a wonderful man that I admired and loved greatly.
Shortly after Course Directors’ Conference in October 1994, I made my formal invitations to those I desired to have on my staff. Four of those that I invited declined for various reasons, but they were replaced by other wonderful friends and talented scouters. I was really delighted that my sister, Dayna, agreed to serve on staff. Not long after I had invited my staff to serve, I received a phone call from two Area Scouting officials informing me that our course had been selected to run a pilot program of Exploring Woodbadge. This would mean that I would have 2 additional staff members solely for the Explorer posts and that we would have 15 to 20 Explorer candidates, divided into 2 or 3 posts. This call really caught me off-guard, and I was immediately apprehensive and yet excited at the same time, and after careful thought I could readily see how it would be a great opportunity for our course and for the Exploring program in the Council. Two great Scouters were added to our staff and they both proved to be delightful to work with and very enthusiastic.
We held all of our staff development sessions except one at Camp Williams, and they went quite well. I felt a unity and togetherness in our staff. I felt confident that we could have a wonderful impact on the participants who attended our course. I was able to recruit 11 people from the Grandview 10th Ward and 2 people from the Grandview 6th Ward to come on our course, and this set a great lead for our recruiting efforts. My sweet wife agreed to attend the course, and I looked forward with great anticipation to sharing this unique experience with her. We had 52 participants recruited by the time we held our pre-course orientation in early March of 1995. Our staff developments were not without controversy and some disagreement, but all the thorny issues were worked out amiably.
Our pre-course orientation meeting went well, with 33 candidates attending. I had a friend who was an Olympic-quality archer, come and shoot arrows at balloons as I gave my “Aims and Methods” presentations. It really livened up the topic and was fun. The 3 weeks between pre-course orientation and the course opening were very hectic, filled with final preparations, xeroxing, invitations to dignitaries, phone calls, preparing of binders, and on and on.
Our setup for the course went quite smoothly, with the exception that we were told that we would not have showering facilities for the first weekend and the fact that it snowed 18″ the night before the candidates arrived. We were able to get all nine tepees set up before the snow fell. Our staff and VIP dinner, which was held the night before our course opened, was very nice. I was awarded my 4th Woodbadge bead and our 5 first-time staffers received their 3rd bead. We had a wonderful testimony meeting that evening and I presented the staff with my gift, hand-made 4-foot square On Target mirrors with acrylic back pieces and embroidered carrying bags. I think they liked them. The staff presented me with some beautiful gifts, including a Kudu horn, a large 15″ Dutch oven with my name and course number cast in the iron lid, and a nice Dutch oven cooking stand. I really appreciated this very thoughtful expression in my behalf.
I was absolutely delighted with our first weekend. The participants, with few exceptions, were excited and teachable. Our squads and posts fell into place nicely, as we ended up having 54 participants in 3 posts and 6 squads. A wonderful spirit infused the course from the very start. The snow which fell the night before our course opened did little to dampen the spirits of all involved. It was really fun to have Susan and so many friends and associates on the course: it added a wonderful new element for me.
We had our closing flag ceremony on Saturday afternoon, just as we ended our first weekend. As the American flag was lowered in absolute silence with all of our scouters saluting, I noticed that Susan was openly crying. She related later that this was an extremely emotional and moving experience for her. That flag-lowering, in that serene and almost sacred setting, evoked in Susan memories of how she felt as a child, saluting the flag and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in elementary school. An intense love of country, flag, and freedom welled up and found expression in her tears of gratitude. This same feeling was felt in a similar way by many of our participants that beautiful afternoon.
Our Court of Honor and flag retiring night was colossal. Many of our participants from last year’s weekend Woodbadge course received their beads. We had arranged for a wonderful patriotic speaker to come and talk on patriotism. Rarely have I been so captivated and emotionally stirred by a speaker as I was by this gentleman, and this was the case with almost all present. He was a native American, being of the Cherokee tribe, and he was drafted into the service shortly before World War II. He served in the military for 19 years before being granted US citizenship (due to his being native American). He served in the Pacific during World War II and was eventually captured by the Japanese and sent on the infamous Bataan death march. He watched thousands of his comrades die of dehydration or starvation, or succumb to the inhuman torture inflicted by the Japanese guards. He himself was brutally tortured by having bamboo shoots driven into his tongue and pharynx on several occasions. The damage to his mouth and throat was so severe that it took him years to regain his speaking voice. He weighed 155 lbs. at the beginning of the march and weighed 57 lbs. when he was finally rescued. He was left with only partial vision because of the malnutrition and dehydration. He told us how he harbored an intense desire to kill the Japanese man who was responsible for the 1000’s of deaths on the Bataan March. This desire burned and festered in his soul for years, growing and magnifying, pervading every aspect of his life. He planned his strategy and prepared himself physically and emotionally to carry out this deed. Many years later, he had his opportunity. He returned to Japan, and by subterfuge he succeeded in locating the home of this former Japanese Army officer. At an appropriate time he went and knocked at the door. His plan was to overpower this man and choke him to death with his bare hands, as he had seen this officer and other Japanese officers do to many of his friends on the Death March. As he was ushered into the room where this officer was and saw him standing across the room, immediately a spirit of forgiveness entered his heart, the years of hatred and malice were forgotten, and a spirit of charity filled his soul. This great brother found himself crossing the room, embracing the Japanese officer, weeping, and saying over and over, “I forgive you, I forgive you.”
Our last Friday on course was the day of our long-awaited service project. Our participants had elected to clean and refurbish the waterfront area around Taylor Lake, and they did a spectacular job of painting, repairing, landscaping, and cleaning. The Bears did a wonderful job of sanding, stripping, and repainting the waterfront tote board. The Buffaloes were given the task of dredging Taylor Lake of some accumulated debris. Despite our impassioned plea that they refrain from “horseplay” and that they wear life jackets while in the rowboats, the Buffalo’s playful spirits soon overcame their sense of decorum, with all of the Buffaloes, most of the Eagles, and some of the Antelopes getting a good soaking with water guns and splashed water. The entire service project was a roaring success, with the entire waterfront area receiving a facelift and fresh coats of paint on all the wood structures and objects.
I looked forward with great anticipation to the afternoon when we staged our hurdles and the Challenge course. This is one of the outstanding times when we see if our participants have caught the vision of utilizing and living the Leadership Skills we’ve presented. I rotated through the nine hurdles to observe all of the groups tackle at least one hurdle, and was pleased to see the closeness, cooperation, and concern that was evident. I watched the Buffaloes at several of the hurdles, and their humor, camaraderie, and lightheartedness more than made up for their inability to solve the dilemmas. In the span of 2 hours, they tore a gaping hole in a tent, stranded Susan in a tree, placed a participant in a compromised position underneath another participant in an attempt to do the popsicle pushups, and traveled only 3 to 4 feet from the starting point of the blindfold maze. However, they and the other groups excelled at the skills that really mattered: communication, camaraderie, and unbridled love for each other. It was rewarding to observe how close and united our groups were. They headed off on their overnighter with high spirits.
Our final day together on the course was a fitting highlight of a wonderful Woodbadge course, with a wonderful Gilwell ceremony with many expressions of love and gratitude, a tasty feast with many Dutch-oven delights, and a fantastic Honor Trail and Closing Ceremony. Two great experiences were the most memorable for me as we closed our Course. First, although the course members were instructed to come up to the fire one-by-one to cast their sprig of fir on the flames, our squads and posts decided to come to the fire as groups because they couldn’t stand to separate during this emotional and moving time. I was touched by that. Secondly, as I emerged from the lodge after having cast my sprig on the fire, I was crestfallen when I saw heavy rain falling. This meant that we would all be wet and cold as we said our farewells to all the candidates. Remarkably, miraculously, within just 2 or 3 minutes the rain stopped completely and we were able to have our farewell expressions as we had planned. What a glorious experience it was! So many expressions of gratitude and love, so many new friends, so many wonderful memories!
Click here to return to the Personal Life Journal index