Things I Did Because I Was a Boy Scout: An impressive list

Those less familiar with Scouting know all about the camping and fishing and hiking that young men and young women enjoy in our program.

They know that Scouts and Venturers are kind and do good deeds.

“That’s a good start,” says longtime volunteer Ray Capp, “but there is so much more.”

So Capp asked some former Scouts — ages 30 to 80 — a simple question: What’s something you absolutely would never have done if you hadn’t been a Scout?

The result is an impressive list of “Things I Did Because I Was a Boy Scout.” It’s a powerful recruiting tool.

The list includes activities like using CPR, planting a tree, preparing a freshly caught fish, teaching a skill to someone else, camping in an ice cave and many more.

“As you think about the things you might want for your son,” Capp writes in an open letter to prospective Scout parents, “think of this list of possibilities.”

The list and letter are linked below. Both are suitable for printing and sharing far and wide.

Capp shared this with his Scouting family and agreed to let me include it here, because, as he writes, “we need to be sure every kid in America has the benefits of what we had as youngsters.”

Things I Did Because I Was a Boy Scout

things-i-did-because-i-was-a-boy-scout

Here’s a PDF of the poster seen above.

Ray Capp’s open letter

Here’s a PDF of Ray Capp’s open letter, in which he elaborates about this list.


Hat tip: Thanks to Russell Smart for sending me Ray’s letter.


About Bryan Wendell 3282 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.