The Boy Scout

Posted by Russ Devan (New Hanover, United States) on 13 July 2009 in Art & Design and Portfolio.

This week, my son and his boy scout troop are away at summer camp. Oh, how I wish I was there with them. Their camp site is spectacular; very shady and literally just a stone's throw from beautiful Bushkill Creek. Although I couldn't attend camp this year like most years, I did help transport the troop to camp; a two-hour drive from New Hanover. The five scouts in my car (out of 33 attending camp this summer...we had quite a caravan driving north to the Poconos) creatively occupied their time by seeing who could spot the greatest number of yellow cars and trucks on the highway before we got to camp. Obviously, the scout that rode shotgun had the greatest advantage since he had the best view out the window.

This statue is at the entrance to Resica Falls Scout Reservation near Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, where my son is camping. The statue is by Dr. R. Tait McKenzie and is entitled "The Boy Scout". It was presented to the Valley Forge Council of Boy Scouts of America (now the Cradle of Liberty Council) in 1972.

I stop and admire this statue each time I am at Resica Falls. The pose, the look on the boy's face, his axe at the ready, the gesture of his hat removed from his head...all seem to capture the ideals of Scouting.

"The Master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both."
- Zen Buddhist Text

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