Ticket items, critters, beads and the Gilwell song. Wood Badge left a mark on almost every Scouter who took it, and course participants and staff wrote about it often.
Today is the day my Wood Badge course should have started. For those who may not be familiar, in order for a Wood Badge course to go forward, there must be a minimum of 30 registered participants by 30 days before the course.
Even as Wood Badge prepares to turn 100 next year, it’s still charting new territory. Last month, a group of Scouters from across the country held the first Wood Badge course in the history of the Summit Bechtel Reserve. While the syllabus for this essential leadership training for Scout leaders was unchanged, this was a…
Scouting Wire would like to thank Krista Schubert of River Cities Gazette for writing and submitting this story. Cubmaster Fabian Perez-Crespo of Pack 425, the Miami Springs Boy Scouts of America pack, was recognized as a Wood Badge leader at the group’s final meeting before summer break, earlier this month.
Today’s Wood Badgers can get by without a handkerchief, canvas wash basin or second spoon. But those were considered essential pieces of gear 70 years ago at the very first Wood Badge course in the U.S. It’s been seven decades since July 31, 1948, when 29 men descended on Schiff Scout Reservation in New Jersey…
On July 31, 1948, William “Green Bar Bill” Hillcourt served as Scoutmaster at the first official Wood Badge course in the United States. Seventy years later, Wood Badge has grown into an essential training experience for adult volunteers. You’ll find proud Wood Badge alumni — myself included — in every council in the country.