Some good parent education would make it easier to get leaders and thus to spread Scouting.
CARRINGTON: There are ways to get men in the farm country. As District Chairman, I used a well-known method that worked wonderfully. I used a survey blank that asked boys the question “Who do you think is the best man in your community, and why?” The kids would name men whom we hadn’t thought of, and give good reasons. When we went to such men and told them why the boys thought they were tops, resistance faded away and we usually had our leaders.
In most communities the leadership is there if we know how to dig for it.
NICHOLS: Leadership may be there all right, but believe me, trained leadership is sure lacking. That is where our Local Councils need to give us more help—short courses that busy men can attend. I think time and money spent by the Local Council assisting new leaders would be well spent.
WITCRAFT: Training becomes harder as the distance between your Scout Units increases. Here are a few ways we have been able to get training to our men:
(a) We run week-end training courses.
(b) Our monthly Round Tables are packed with training as well as fellowship.
(c) The One-Unit course is tops—the committee joins with the leaders in an at-home training experience. This may lack some of the advantages of larger courses but it has some of its own.