My Story

I’ve been involved on and off with Scouting since 1978

Having spent most of my life in Greenville, I’ve had my fair share of trips to Camp Old Indian but I didn’t make it to Eagle. Like so many others I got distracted. Thankfully my oldest son was more committed than I, earning his Eagle nearly two decades ago and his son is now in Cub Scouts. I’m one proud papa as my wife says and she’s right.

When I got re-involved with my son’s Scouting adventures, I got really involved. I was an Assistant Scoutmaster in his troop and we hiked parts of the AT together, went to Philmont, camped by the Chattooga, and nearly froze up in Virginia one New Year’s eve. All that time, I was getting the shake down by the Blue Ridge Council to give more money to Friends of Scouting and one fundraising event or another. I did contribute and still did for many years after. The Scout Executive, Pat or Patrick at the time, tried to get me to join the Board of Directors. But that wasn’t how I wanted to be involved. I wanted to spend my Scouting time with my son. With my job I was also just too busy.

My professional life is what has made this issue so visible to me

After my son went to college, I stayed on as Troop Committee Chair for a few years, finishing up my tenure around 2008. I’ve been away from Scouting since then, but now my grandson is in Cub Scouts over in Rock Hill. When my son told me he was in the Palmetto Council, now, I was shocked that the two were still separate. I honestly couldn’t believe they had managed to stay apart.

I worked for nearly two decades for one of the largest consulting firms in the world, specializing in the study of mergers and acquisitions for companies of all sizes. I traveled all over the world with a team of experts to review and decide if companies should merge, fold, sell, or do nothing.

Reduce Waste for Pride’s Sake

It doesn’t take an expert to see that the Blue Ridge Council is wasting massive amounts of money, time, and effort maintaining independence and they probably don’t even realize it. In fact, I don’t believe this is on purpose at all. It’s just always been this way. The same can be said about the Palmetto Council. How can the boards justify the need to remain separate? I can’t stand waste. But I really can’t stand it when someone else’s money is being wasted. The number of clients we had that went belly-up after refusing to adapt or change shouldn’t surprise you, either. Pride can be a dangerous attribute.

But when the former Scoutmaster of our old troop old me he saw an announcement about the resignation of the Scout Executive, I knew it was time to speak up. I made some phone calls to some former Troop and District folks I volunteered with, and here we are.

Me and My Mission in Retirement

You’ve noticed by now that I haven’t introduced myself. This effort is bigger than me so who I am doesn’t really matter. This is about a belief and a tenant that Scouting teaches - to be thrifty. It isn’t about me. I also don’t want to draw my son or grandson into this effort. They deserve to have as much fun as I did - both times around.

Special thanks to my wife for the help with all the tech stuff, though. I couldn’t have done this in three days without her!