By Curtis R. July 11, 2017 — When my son Curtis was a kid, his girlfriend gave him a high dose of birth control pills. The doctor said it made him sterile. He was married twice. His second wife is becoming a man. Right now he is with a nice woman who has two kids.
My son went all through scouts and became an Eagle Scout. I was an assistant scout master and assistant district commissioner. I worked out of the greater Pittsburg counsel. I liked working with kids. Our boys were known as the renegades. No one wanted to work with these kids, but once you got past the hard core street stuff they were good kids, smarter than they let on. These renegades were a group of misfits, meek and mild, hard and angry, but they got along with each other. A few of them made Eagle Scout. One became a paramedic for greater Pittsburg.
One story that stands out for me was about a boy named Paul. He was about 16/17, a nice kid from a good home. He spoke French fluently. We were at summer camp and we had a visitor’s day. One parent came with an exchange student from France. I asked Paul if he could help interpret for this girl for the day. When they shook hand in the middle of the field they both “went stupid,” their hands fell away and they just stared at each other. They stayed that way for a long time, just staring at each other.
I left scouting on a sour note. Others were getting jealous of my connections and awards. I received the district award of Merit, the second highest award a volunteer could receive. (The first highest is the Silver Beaver).
The District Award of Merit is a council award presented by districts in the same manner that the Silver Beaver is a national award presented by councils. The award is available to Scouters who render service of an outstanding nature at the district level.