Still-adventurous Scouts honor anniversary

Twelve-year-old Dakota Davidson, of Hollis, couldn’t wait to spend the night outside in the woods this past weekend, sleeping in a tent in subfreezing temperatures.

He’s a Boy Scout – one of 13,000 in the state and 4 million in the country. And like so many other Scouts, Dakota was counting down the minutes until his next scouting adventure – in this case the annual Klondike Derby at Lone Pine Hunters Club in Hollis.

But this year’s Klondike Derby was even more special. It kicked off a yearlong celebration of scouting in America, which is celebrating its 100th birthday today.

John Pelletier, senior district executive for the Daniel Webster BSA Council overseeing the Greater Nashua scout organizations, said this year’s derby incorporated Boy Scout history directly into the two-day event.

Typical Klondike Derbies are held in the winter and have been a Boy Scout tradition since 1949. There are always a group of Scouts, like Dakota, who camp out in tents, no matter how cold it is. The derby also includes 10 or more stations where patrols test their Scout skills and their leadership abilities, earning points toward a total score and usually including skills like first aid and knot tying.

For instance, in Hollis this weekend, there was a cow milking station (using a practice udder set) that used to be a skill necessary for a dairy merit badge. Pelletier said there was also a semaphore station. In the days before cell phones and global positioning systems, communicating with flag signals used to be a big part of scouting. That’s no longer the case, he said, but the scouts at the Klondike practiced the skill.

And because of the inclusion of these historic scouting skills, Pelletier said a photographer from Boys Life, the official magazine of the Boy Scouts of America, was on hand to take photos for possible use in a future issue about the scouting centennial.

It was on this day 100 years ago – Feb. 8, 1910 – that Chicago publisher, William Boyce, officially chartered the Boy Scouts of America. The millionaire publisher became familiar with scouting the year before when visiting London. Legend has it that the city was socked in with thick fog, and Boyce lost his way when a 12-year-old boy, carrying a lantern helped guide him to his destination. The story continues that when Boyce offered a shilling as reward, the boy refused, saying “No, sir, I am a Scout. Scouts do not accept tips for good turns.”

Whether the anecdote is true or not, Boyce, an avid outdoorsman, did take an interest in scouting while visiting England where British war hero Robert Baden-Powell formed the Scouting movement in Great Britain in 1907 – and he and his wife founded the Girl Guides three years later. By 1910, the Boy Scouts of America got its charter.

That same year, Baden-Powell visited America to talk with scout leaders, and President William Howard Taft became the first honorary president of the newly formed Boy Scouts of America and former President Theodore Roosevelt became the first honorary vice president.

While today is the official birthday of the scouting in America, Pelletier said scouts in New Hampshire and the rest of the country will be celebrating all year.

The Daniel Webster Council is joining with the Brain Injury Association of New Hampshire to host the 2010 Boston-New England Air Show at Pease International Tradeport, featuring the Blue Angels. The show will be held Aug. 28-29, and tickets have already gone on sale.

Pelletier said there will also be a simulcast broadcast of the 100th anniversary closing ceremony at the National Boy Scout Jamboree in Virginia this summer at Merchant Auto Stadium in Manchester.

He said the message he’d like to get out there on this 100th birthday, is that scouting is thriving in New Hampshire.

“Our council had about 2 percent membership increase over last year. And we’re ranked 35th of the 300 scout councils nationally in terms of membership,” he said.

Pelletier said he thinks New Hampshire is such a big scouting state because of access to the Seacoast, White Mountains and so many forested areas.

“We don’t have to go far to mountain climb, go white water rafting or camping in the wilderness,” he said.

Plus, the leaders and the scouts in this state are both dedicated and enthusiastic.

That certainly could be said of Dakota Davidson and his 10-year-old brother, Derek, who belong to Troop 12 in Hollis and couldn’t wait for the derby this past weekend.

“I went last year and loved it,” said Dakota, the night before the event. “My favorite station is the obstacle course” but he was also looking forward to the winter camping and making a campfire in the snow.

“Last year, it was five degrees and I only brought one sleeping bag and I was freezing. This year I’ll bring two. I love everything about scouting.”

And that, say those in scouting, is the real 100-year tradition.

Stacy Milbouer can be reached at stacym34@gmail.com.