This is the most commonly requested story from the Scouting magazine archives

A good story has the power to move you. A great story has the power to continue to make you feel things decades after it was published.

That certainly seems to be the case with a story from Scouting magazine first published back in November of 1980.

The headline reads “Maybe Just One More,” and it’s a story about a veteran Scoutmaster who keeps getting pulled back into Scouting by the prospect of helping another young person work their way toward the rank of Eagle Scout.

I regularly receive emails asking me for help in digging up old stories from Scouting and Scout Life magazines. Though the details they can provide are sometimes fuzzy, it’s common for people to remember exactly the way a story made them feel when they first read it.

Rarely, however, do I get multiple requests from different people for the same story.

Though it was published 44 years ago this month, “Maybe Just One More” hits just as hard today as it did back then. It was written by a Scout mom from Scott City, Kansas, as a tribute to her son’s Scoutmaster.

What makes the story so great is how relatable it still is. The world has changed a lot in the last 44 years, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the critical role our volunteers play in guiding young people along the Scouting path.

The writing is old-fashioned, yet it still 100% rings true. If anything, it shows how the spirit of Scouting has remained unchanged through all these years.

Seeing as how this month is the season to give thanks, I thought it appropriate to repost the story here in its entirety to say thank you to all the Scoutmasters and other volunteers who work so hard to help develop the character of today’s youth.

Maybe Just One More

It’s a very special time when a Scoutmaster presents the Eagle badge to one of his boys.

By Patricia A. Graham

(Patricia Graham wrote this story as a tribute to her son’s Scoutmaster, Kenneth A. Warrington, Troop 149, chartered to the Chamber of Commerce of Scott City, Kansas. Yet her words apply to all Scoutmasters who have inspired young men to reach the rank of Eagle Scout.)

That look in his eyes … funny, it’s almost the same wide-eyed wonder I saw the night he came into the troop. I’ve worked overtime on this boy. My hands are shaking. What if I drop his Eagle pin on the floor? Worse yet, what if I break down and can’t say the things I want to say?

His folks are so proud. Should be too. So few boys ever get to this point. Lord knows we try to keep them interested, but there are so many distractions. By the time they get into high school, it’s almost impossible to hang on to them.

It was the mountains that saved this one for us. He loved summer camp enough to plug away at weekly meetings. Never forget the first time I took him up that old mountain.

He has all the earmarks of a real Scout now. Wonder if he knows how much I’ve come to depend on him myself? Well, he’s done his part, and so have I. The promise I made to myself years ago can finally be kept: “Just one more, Lord. When this special, eager little boy has his Eagle, I’m going to quit.”

Hauled scared kids up mountain passes and carried down more than one with a sprained ankle. Eaten burned biscuits and runny eggs, bandaged a jillion cut fingers and broken blisters. I’ve yelled and whispered, laughed and prayed. And every time my wife has said, “Why don’t you give it up?” I’ve said, “I just want to see this kid get his Eagle. Then I’ll quit.”

Does he know how important this little silver pin is? Does he care about the hours of giving we’ve put into this moment? Why, I haven’t seen Monday Night Football in years! But this is it. He’s done, and so am I.

I didn’t realize he’d gotten so tall. These kids grow up so fast. Taller than I am. Taller than his dad too.

There. Finally got that pin on and didn’t drop it either. Oh-oh, he’s got tears just ready to spill, and so have I. Shake his hand firmly and turn back to the audience. Give us both time to get under control.

Look at those faces! It really is an impressive moment for the young Scouts. Wish we could bottle that inspiration and dispense it when they begin to run dry.

Hey! Where’d that kid come from, the one on the front row. Look at those eyes shine! That’s him. That’s one who’ll make it all the way. What fun it would be. Well, maybe just one more!