Scout Master influences area youth for decades
jhershberger@eldoradonews.com From welcoming wide-eyed sixth-graders to watching the Eagle Scout ceremony, Wayne Harrell knows the value of scouting. As a former Boy Scout, he said he wants to pass the scouting experience on to others.
“It is interesting to see them come in as silly little boys and see them leave as senior patrol boys,” he said. For Harrell, father of two sons, scouting gives him chance to provide a positive male influence to other boys, to guide them and to provide some leadership.
“We have had some fairly decent, late night talks with boys who would not say some things to their parents. They will sit and talk with you late at night about things that are on their minds,” he said.
Having grown up from Cub Scout to becoming an Eagle Scout in 1962, Harrell said he lost touch with scouting as he pursued a degree in engineering, married his wife, Rhonda, and welcomed his sons, Adam and Keith.
When Adam turned six, Harrell became the Cub Master of Pack 18 with just 11 boys. It grew to 118 including both his sons, Adam and Kevin, who both reached the rank of Eagle Scout.
“They said that they grew up and I stayed. I just enjoyed working with the boys, providing male leadership and watching them grow up,” Harrell said.
“I couldn’t do all this by myself. I have a really good group of assistant Scout Masters and dads. When I was working, they could cover the meeting.”
Area scouting has declined since Harrell was a Cub Scout. “When I was in, every major church of El Dorado had a troop. We had five weeks of camp. Now we have just one. Other things pull on their attention.”
Still, as Scout Master of Troop 18, Harrell has seen hundreds of boys develop life skills. His interest follows each boy, even when their family moves away. This father of two has also played a role in the lives of many, many boys through the scouting program.
“Since Troop 18 came back into existence in 1985, there have been 48 Eagle Scouts; 41 were under my tenure. We have had at least one Eagle Scout every year since 1994. I’ve got doctors, preachers and boys who either are, or have been, in Iraq or Afghanistan. Those are the ones that I keep up with — the Eagles. Other boys who came for six months or a year, I will run into them in town and they say, ‘Don’t you remember me?’ They will tell me something I said to them, or that I did — something that influenced them,” he said.
A Scout must become an Eagle Scout before their 18th birthday.