We all know that we have a big opportunity and responsibility to reach out into that open country. We also know that it is a hard job.
To help bring this rural business into the spotlight, SCOUTING Magazine asked eight men to join in one of our Round Table discussions. These men represent all phases of rural life and of Scouting. The “moderator’s gavel” will be wielded by the Chairman of our National Committee on Rural Scouting, Wheeler McMillen, who as the Editor-in-chief of the Farm Journal and the Pathfinder Magazine, has a host of friends throughout America.
Mr. McMillen, will you take over?
McMILLEN: I feel honored to join you fine men, who represent so many aspects of modern farm life. We all have one thing in common—we want that boy who lives on the farm to have a good break. Some of us believe that the Scouting program can play a big part in his growth.
We should face this whole question objectively and constructively. Let’s start by asking a rather blunt question: Do rural boys really need Scouting? Or is their normal life already filled with the ingredients which make for character and good citizenship?
VERNON NICHOLS, SCOUTMASTER: They need it very much. Scouting not only builds character, but it helps especially in developing leadership, a quality often lacking in farm boys.
HOWARD F. FOX, SUPERVISOR, VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE: The boys who live in small towns need Scouting, but I think those who live on farms need it in less degree.
JOE C. CARRINGTON, COUNCIL PRESIDENT: I can’t agree with Mr. Fox. Farm boys need it even more than town boys, who have more supervised playgrounds, more church and school and club-sponsored programs. The rural boy has very little to round out his life, and really needs Scouting.
L. H. ELEAZER, CUBMASTER: Perhaps the elements are there on the farm, but Scouting can help bring them out. Sometimes when a man is close to a thing, he doesn’t see it in its real light. Also, all rural boys do not stay on the farms where they were reared. These boys need much of the same kind of training their city brothers get.