Feature Story
River Fairies
W
hen our oldest son, Tim, was 11 years old, I took him to his first Boy Scout meeting and came back the scoutmaster. That wasn't my plan, but the troop was having trouble and the existing scoutmaster wanted out. I was compelled to take on this new challenge because of my Boy Scouts experiences as a youth. The scouting program introduced me to the outdoors, including hiking, camping, shooting, archery and boating, which steered me into a natural resources management career.
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CONSERVATION FEDERATION
My parents were not outdoors people. My father once told me his heart began to beat irregularly when he got too far from wall to wall carpeting. I started out in scouting as an 11-year-old and eight years later ended as the waterfront director at a large scout summer camp. When I took on the scoutmaster assignment, I had no idea that it would last for almost ten years. That was longer than I was in the Boy Scouts as a youth.
