Little Philmont

The Paria River District had a training session for bishoprics and stake presidencies at Moccasin last Friday and Saturday. The original plan was for Little Philmont to be held at the new park just west of the church but the weather had other ideas. It started snowing Friday afternoon and by the time we arrived it was coming down pretty good. Because it was a day and a half affair, the plan was to have our spouses there for the dinner and speakers Friday evening, then camp in the park and continue the training on Saturday. While the rest of the participants either went home, stayed in camp trailers, or slept in the cultural hall of the church, Bishop Hawkins and I went up to the house, built a fire and slept in relative comfort.

People arriving Friday evening.

Of course, it wouldn't be a Scout function without food.

Our first speaker of the evening was Mark Gubler, president of the Utah National Parks Council.

Geographically, our council is the largest in the nation, covering 76,000 square miles! There are almost 77,000 scouts and approximately 42,000 scouters in 4900 units. The budget comes out to about $89/boy, while the national average hovers around the $200 mark.

He mentioned some other interesting statistics also showing the correlation between activity rates in scouting and activity rates in the Aaronic Priesthood.

Our keynote speaker was Elder Charles L. Dahlquist, former Young Men General President and currently the president of the Salt Lake Council. A long time Scouter, he also made the observation that where Scouting is strong, AP quorums are strong. He said we should not just give lip service to the mantra that Scouting is the activity arm of the Aaronic Priesthood.

The closing ceremony included the retirement of a flag and the proper way to do so. Because we had to be inside because of the weather, the burning part was skipped!

Saturday was spent in breakout sessions for Scouts/Deacon leaders, Varsity/Teacher leaders and Venture/Priest leaders.

One of the interesting points brought up Friday was that in the Utah South Area, only about 40% of young men become Elders and that that statistic would increase if we engaged more boys in Scouts and let them see us not only as Scouters, but Priesthood holders. Outside the United States where Scouting is not a part of the YM program, the number of young men becoming Elders drops to 10%! I would offer that statistic to those who complain about the Church's ties with scouting and point to the fact that the Church functions without Scouting throughout much of the world. I think the answer is obvious: forge relationships with scout organizations in other countries.

OK, I'll get off my soap box now.

Well, one more thing. There are those who say we should concentrate on the Duty to God program. The fact is that those units and wards that have a strong Scouting program generally have strong Duty to God programs. Those that don't have strong Scouting programs generally don't have strong Duty to God programs. That has been my personal experience and was also mentioned by Elder Dahlquist.

Now I'm through.