I was in Boy Scout Troop 1. It was chartered by O'Henry Jr. High PTA, Austin, TX. My Scoutmaster was Mr. Jack Wilkes. He had two daughters, yet he loved being with the Boy Scouts. I know he was still alive a few years ago.

I don't remember the first Explorer Post number I was in. I do remember, it met at the First Congregational Church in Austin. The Advisors for this Post were primarily Univ. of Texas Students (members of Alpha Pi Omega [APO] the National Boy Scout Fraternity). The official meeting time was "As soon as you can get there after Sgt. Bilko, a popular TV show." We met on Tuesday nights.

Another Explorer Post I was in, was Post 9. This was organized when the Explorers began to specialize. This was an archery oriented post, chartered by the Austin Archery Club.

The final Explorer Post I was in was Post 1. I was in this Post my last two years in High School. I don't remember who chartered the Post, I think it might have been the Austin High School PTA in Austin.

As a youth, I have some fond memories. Some are listed below:

Cub Scouts - Huge pack meetings, we must have had about 10 or more dens. Some of the things that went on in the Pack meetings were a hobby show, minstrel show, and magician. When I was a Den Chief, Capitol Area Council sponsored a Train trip from Austin to San Antonio for all Cub Scouts. We visited the Zoo and the Alamo, and returned on the train getting back to Austin late at night.

Boy Scouts - Summer Camp at Camp Tom Wooten. Another thing was the Camporees when we would compete in scout skill contests against other scout patrols. I was one of the signal specialists.

Explorers - This was great. One thing I did was to plan a canoe outing on Starnes Island, Lake Travis, TX. (I found out after the campout was over the island was also know as "Snake Island" due to the number of Rattle Snakes. We never saw one.)

Another event was a District sponsored canoe trip from Austin to Bastrop. It took a week, I earned the Fifty Miler Award. One thing I learned on this trip was not to paddle upstream in rapids. We overshot our first camp, Webberville, TX, and we had to go against the current to get back. GET OUT AND PULL THE CANOE!!!!!

Capitol Area Council also sponsored a Navy cruise in 1958. We boarded the Landing Craft Destroyer, USS Liddle, in Houston. We sailed out into the Gulf of Mexico for a week. We returned to Algiers Naval Station, across the river from New Orleans.

The council also sponsored a formal dance for all Explorers. Thinking back, it was really neat. All the girls dressed in their formal gowns, and all the boys in their Explorer Uniforms. An Explorer Queen was honored, and it was a beautiful young lady from the Texas School for the Deaf.

I didn't make Eagle Scout, I stopped working on it after I made Star, but as you can see, I pretty much stayed with scouting through high school, and had a ball.