Scouts

  I was in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts.  Our Cub Scout troop met at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Columbia. We had a champion archer come one day, and we were all amazed by his ability to get bullseyes.  He taught us a little about the bow and arrow.  I tried to shoot one, but all I got was a burn on my arm.  We also participated in the soapbox derby by making cars out of wood that could be fast.  I didn't win.  We learned later that the boy who won had cheated by putting metal in the frame to make the car go faster.  We did have some cool uniforms.

 I moved onto Boy Scouts at St. Martin's in the Fields Episcopal Church in Forest Acres.  It was sort of across the street from my junior high school.  We didn't do much there except to have fun.  One night, we wanted to get a band together.  I told them I could play the harmonica.  I had a harmonica at home, but my idea of playing it was to breathe in and out, while my mouth was on it.  I had no concept of playing notes on it.  We played the song "Flowers on the Wall" which was popular at that time.  I sat in a chair near a wall to "play" my harmonica.  I hyperventilated and passed out.  They revived me and had me breathe into a paper bag.  The other scouts thought it was funny.  I didn't share in the humor, but that was the last time I used a harmonica.

 After that humiliation, I moved to Boy Scouts at First Baptist Church in Columbia.  This troop was hardcore scouting.  We went camping and tried to achieve badges.  I went from Tenderfoot to Second Class in just a couple of weeks.  I learned how to build a fire and to shoot a gun.  The gun was a .22 rifle.  We went out to the lake to camp.  Each scout had to shoot at a tree.  I missed every time.  I learned that guns were not right for me.  Our scout leader wanted every kid to earn as many badges as possible.  We were all on a fast track.  The First Class badge was much harder to get.  One of the challenges was to do a five-mile hike.  I decided that scouting wasn't right for me, despite more cool uniforms.  

 Thankfully, I was starting to get involved in Speech tournaments in 10th grade, so I used that as an excuse to get out of scouting.  It was probably for the best.