By now, most Times readers have seen the feature photo on each Friday's Life page - the vintage local Boy Scout images from the organization's 100-year history.
Those images from the past provide a link for many to the 2010 National Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill near Bowling Green, Va., which started July 26 and concluded Wednesday, and where countless new images of Scouting in the present were certain to be captured.
The jamboree took on added significance for the 45,000 or so expected Scouts, leaders and staff at the event from all over the country as the national organization marks its 100th anniversary this year.
The local photo in each Friday's Times celebrates what Scouting has meant to people in the Green County area. Local resident Ron Spielman made the initial push and has supplied the photos and background, and local advertisers have supported the effort, to keep this celebration alive.
But there is more to highlight about Scouting than a celebration in Virginia or valuable memories shared by area residents. The anniversary casts a spotlight on the strong core principles that guide Scouts at every level from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts, Varsity Scouting and Venturing.
Since the group's founding in 1910, the Scout Oath, "On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight," has helped guide generations of youth through the struggle to adulthood.
Along the way, these individuals - more than 830,000 current Boy Scouts, according to the Boy Scouts of America website - likely have passed their way of life, through example and interaction, on to people they meet.
The Boy Scouts organization has been a benefit to this country and certainly for the Green County area over the last 100 years. It's a strong tradition and perhaps more important now than ever before.
Keep looking for those local Boy Scout photos and remember the positive impact Scouting has had, and continues to have, on our community and our country.
Happy 100th birthday, Boy Scouts of America.
Those images from the past provide a link for many to the 2010 National Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill near Bowling Green, Va., which started July 26 and concluded Wednesday, and where countless new images of Scouting in the present were certain to be captured.
The jamboree took on added significance for the 45,000 or so expected Scouts, leaders and staff at the event from all over the country as the national organization marks its 100th anniversary this year.
The local photo in each Friday's Times celebrates what Scouting has meant to people in the Green County area. Local resident Ron Spielman made the initial push and has supplied the photos and background, and local advertisers have supported the effort, to keep this celebration alive.
But there is more to highlight about Scouting than a celebration in Virginia or valuable memories shared by area residents. The anniversary casts a spotlight on the strong core principles that guide Scouts at every level from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts, Varsity Scouting and Venturing.
Since the group's founding in 1910, the Scout Oath, "On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight," has helped guide generations of youth through the struggle to adulthood.
Along the way, these individuals - more than 830,000 current Boy Scouts, according to the Boy Scouts of America website - likely have passed their way of life, through example and interaction, on to people they meet.
The Boy Scouts organization has been a benefit to this country and certainly for the Green County area over the last 100 years. It's a strong tradition and perhaps more important now than ever before.
Keep looking for those local Boy Scout photos and remember the positive impact Scouting has had, and continues to have, on our community and our country.
Happy 100th birthday, Boy Scouts of America.
