Steve was the only one surprised when Dr. Golden called out his name to receive Boy Scouts’ “District Leader of the Year” award last month. Over the past 25 years, Steve has earned a reputation for tirelessly serving the scouting community and being willing to take on the jobs that no one else wants to do. He’s driven by a desire to pass on the same skills he learned in scouting, and the many doors that scouting can unlock for kids today. I couldn’t make it to the awards ceremony but Steve smiled as he recapped the event. “I’m not in it for the awards,” he said, “but if you see a need and go do it for 25 years, maybe you’ll get a certificate too.”
“What can I do to be of help?”
Most leaders know Steve by his famous catchphrase, “What can I do to be of help?” Over the years, these magic words have put him in charge of a lot of different things, like the Great Day of Service, Scout Sunday, Scouting for Food, all water sports related trips, the Eagle Board of Review, and much more. As we continued talking, he walked me through a few of the more challenging roles he’s had in scouting.
Popcorn challenge accepted:
“It’s got to be the worst job in the troop,” he said. The Popcorn Chairman’s job is to organize a group of 60 boys aged 13-17 into a salesforce to sell popcorn and raise money for the troop. Don, the previous chairman, had just retired from the position and none of the leaders wanted the job, especially since Don had just set a new sales record (and expectation) for the troop to sell $25,000 worth of popcorn. Steve volunteered to do it on three conditions: 1. I’m only going to do it for three years. 2. I won’t handle the money. 3. We’re going to raise the sales goal from $25k to $30k… largely because the people who make the popcorn offer free delivery if your troop sells $30k worth of popcorn.
To make matters worse, it was fall 2008 and the economy was in shambles. Nevertheless, Steve found success by putting the right incentives (prizes) in place for the scouts, recruiting a treasurer (CPA) to physically handle the money, and getting the moms involved, which somehow no one had ever thought of doing. Steve pushed me the hardest, so if you’re reading this post, chances are you probably bought popcorn form me at some point.
Bus on the brink:
Step 1: Panic. The Scout bus was winding through the mountains of West Virginia when the headlights went completely dark. This wasn’t the first time the bus had put the scouts in a dangerous position, and Steve made the call… “this is the last trip we’re ever taking on this bus.”
Thank goodness the popcorn fundraiser was a success because Steve a new job— finding, fundraising, and purchasing a new Scout bus. Steve didn’t know the first thing about buying a bus, which brought him right back to Step 1… Panic. Fortunately, one of Steve’s many talents is bringing the right people together to solve a problem. He teared up thinking about the community members who stepped up to get the scouts back on the road including Bob Reddic, who helped find the bus, Bill Marvin, who conducted a rigorous pre-purchase inspection on the bus, Claire Gladding, who generously donated to the fundraising effort, and Robbie Robertson, who let the scouts park the bus at his warehouse after the catalytic converter was stolen. The bus, aptly named “Claire,” is still on the road today.
Fly like an Eagle:
After seeing a need, Steve created a new position in the troop called “Eagle Mentor,” to help Life Scouts find and complete an Eagle Project, the last step towards earning the coveted Eagle Award. Without any hand holding, he provides struggling scouts with the framework and opportunity to develop their leadership skills by leading a large scale community service project. 99% of the time, these scouts will rise to the occasion– I should know, as I was his first guinea pig for the program.
Over the years, Steve has led Eagle Projects at churches, schools, parks, foster cares, community centers, and more. On his dresser, he keeps a small box of “Eagle mentor pins,” given to him by scouts after earning their Eagle awards. Steve eventually put all of his learnings into a handbook, which is now a required part of the Eagle project process. So you could pretty much say he wrote the handbook on how to get your Eagle Award.
A legacy of service, looking forward:
Steve’s scouting journey isn’t over though. Over Easter, we attended a church service at St. Andrews in Winston-Salem, where Steve had helped coordinate a massive Eagle Project to build a community garden. The pastor was telling the church about how he got a call from Steve the very next day after finishing the project. He figured someone had left their hat or something but Steve just had one question– “What else can we do to help you?”
The big "R" in Ryan 