Bacalles, Scozzafava and Saladino Find Benefits From Continuing Scout Involvement
For building grit and connecting with communities, valuable experience, they say
Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:09:00
When the vote on the 1997 State Budget was called in August of that year, Assembly Member James Bacalles (R-Steuben/Yates) was in Virginia, attending the Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree.
His staff sent him a budget briefing, and a few days later, he was in the car, driving to Albany and voted the next day. After the vote, he got right back on the road and returned to the Jamboree.
After all, he had food to serve the scouts and leaders there.
Bacalles, along with other legislators, spends time over the summer helping scouts with projects and program development. He often helps out in the dining room.
"People don't realize this about the Boy Scouts: It's a youth-run organization. Adults are just there to keep them from getting a little crazy," he said.
Although Bacalles has traveled to the Midwest for scout events, he can frequently be spotted at Camp Gorton, in Dundee, and Camp Brulé, in Forksville, Pa., both run by the Five Rivers Boy Scout Council, which includes counties in New York and Pennsylvania.
Although most campers he encounters recognize Bacalles as a legislator, they are more likely to call him "G's dad"-"G," Bacalles' elder son George, helps develop camp programs-then call him by his title or talk to him about pending legislation in Albany.
Bacalles joined the scouts when he was a child. His father, a restaurateur, encouraged him to become a scout as a way to learn about the outdoors.
As an adult, Bacalles has served as Council chair, executive vice president, and as an adviser to honor scouts in the Order of the Arrow.
Unlike the Legislature, the scouts meet year-round. Bacalles gets to the events in the colder months whenever his schedule allows.
These have led to different kinds of adventures.
One winter evening some years ago, Bacalles oversaw a group of scouts participating in an outdoor overnight competition. When the temperature dipped to 30 degrees, Bacalles decided that the boys had to move indoors. They scoured the camp for open buildings in which they could sleep to escape the cold.
By morning, the boys were scattered in various shelters, protected but angry that Bacalles had robbed them of earning points for sleeping outdoors. Moreover, Bacalles said, they were upset that he had not let them make for themselves the decision to stay outside or move indoors.
"I caught lots of hell for that one," Bacalles said.
But he still defends his decision.
Bacalles tries to sell boys on the life experiences that come with scouting when he addresses young scouts he hopes to convince to stay scouts as they grow up.
"Scouting is more than having a good time," he said, "but we tell them that it's for having a good time."
Bacalles watched his own two sons rise through the scouting ranks to become Eagle Scouts, testing their leadership and survival skills through month-long adventure camps and wilderness hikes.
Camps also help scouts form friendships, said Assembly Member Dierdre "Dede" Scozzafava (R-Lewis/Oswego/St. Lawrence/Jefferson), a former scout, scout leader and board member of the Thousand Islands Girl Scout Council. Though not as involved as she once was, she regularly visits Camp Trefoil, which is just east of Ft. Drum, home to a number of soldiers deployed around the world.
Attending camps helps young women with a parent overseas feel a sense of belonging, she said. At camps, young women can build confidence in themselves as they enter their teens and may begin to feel pressured into looking or acting a certain way.
Assembly Member Joseph Saladino (R-Nassau) said that the survival skills and self-confidence he learned as a scout have brought him success.
Saladino has remained involved with troop activities through the Kiwanis Club and as a liaison between Boy and Cub Scout troops in Massapequa because he believes in the importance of the lessons scouts learn.
Saladino has helped scouts hoping to attain Eagle status develop their service projects. One project, he recalls, began when a senior citizen approached Saladino about an issue with her medical bill. Saladino learned that her stoop needed repairs. An Eagle Scout hopeful soon arrived with tools.
Local scouts also organize campsites for Saladino's Marine and Outdoor Recreation Expo, an event at which people can learn about Long Island's water and land activities.
"It's a great way to bring these different groups together," he said.
Scouting helped teach Saladino to stay calm and overcome panic, and today he encourages scouts to take advantage of scout adventure trips and mountain climbs. Achieving big goals builds confidence, he said.
His own experiences have been instrumental to his political career. After all, for a man who, as a teenager, once had to build a shelter and figure out how to signal a helicopter when lost in a fog and who has since scaled Mount Washington, speaking on the floor of the Assembly, he said, can never seem daunting.
His staff sent him a budget briefing, and a few days later, he was in the car, driving to Albany and voted the next day. After the vote, he got right back on the road and returned to the Jamboree.
After all, he had food to serve the scouts and leaders there.
Bacalles, along with other legislators, spends time over the summer helping scouts with projects and program development. He often helps out in the dining room.
"People don't realize this about the Boy Scouts: It's a youth-run organization. Adults are just there to keep them from getting a little crazy," he said.
Although Bacalles has traveled to the Midwest for scout events, he can frequently be spotted at Camp Gorton, in Dundee, and Camp Brulé, in Forksville, Pa., both run by the Five Rivers Boy Scout Council, which includes counties in New York and Pennsylvania.
Although most campers he encounters recognize Bacalles as a legislator, they are more likely to call him "G's dad"-"G," Bacalles' elder son George, helps develop camp programs-then call him by his title or talk to him about pending legislation in Albany.
Bacalles joined the scouts when he was a child. His father, a restaurateur, encouraged him to become a scout as a way to learn about the outdoors.
As an adult, Bacalles has served as Council chair, executive vice president, and as an adviser to honor scouts in the Order of the Arrow.
Unlike the Legislature, the scouts meet year-round. Bacalles gets to the events in the colder months whenever his schedule allows.
These have led to different kinds of adventures.
One winter evening some years ago, Bacalles oversaw a group of scouts participating in an outdoor overnight competition. When the temperature dipped to 30 degrees, Bacalles decided that the boys had to move indoors. They scoured the camp for open buildings in which they could sleep to escape the cold.
By morning, the boys were scattered in various shelters, protected but angry that Bacalles had robbed them of earning points for sleeping outdoors. Moreover, Bacalles said, they were upset that he had not let them make for themselves the decision to stay outside or move indoors.
"I caught lots of hell for that one," Bacalles said.
But he still defends his decision.
Bacalles tries to sell boys on the life experiences that come with scouting when he addresses young scouts he hopes to convince to stay scouts as they grow up.
"Scouting is more than having a good time," he said, "but we tell them that it's for having a good time."
Bacalles watched his own two sons rise through the scouting ranks to become Eagle Scouts, testing their leadership and survival skills through month-long adventure camps and wilderness hikes.
Camps also help scouts form friendships, said Assembly Member Dierdre "Dede" Scozzafava (R-Lewis/Oswego/St. Lawrence/Jefferson), a former scout, scout leader and board member of the Thousand Islands Girl Scout Council. Though not as involved as she once was, she regularly visits Camp Trefoil, which is just east of Ft. Drum, home to a number of soldiers deployed around the world.
Attending camps helps young women with a parent overseas feel a sense of belonging, she said. At camps, young women can build confidence in themselves as they enter their teens and may begin to feel pressured into looking or acting a certain way.
Assembly Member Joseph Saladino (R-Nassau) said that the survival skills and self-confidence he learned as a scout have brought him success.
Saladino has remained involved with troop activities through the Kiwanis Club and as a liaison between Boy and Cub Scout troops in Massapequa because he believes in the importance of the lessons scouts learn.
Saladino has helped scouts hoping to attain Eagle status develop their service projects. One project, he recalls, began when a senior citizen approached Saladino about an issue with her medical bill. Saladino learned that her stoop needed repairs. An Eagle Scout hopeful soon arrived with tools.
Local scouts also organize campsites for Saladino's Marine and Outdoor Recreation Expo, an event at which people can learn about Long Island's water and land activities.
"It's a great way to bring these different groups together," he said.
Scouting helped teach Saladino to stay calm and overcome panic, and today he encourages scouts to take advantage of scout adventure trips and mountain climbs. Achieving big goals builds confidence, he said.
His own experiences have been instrumental to his political career. After all, for a man who, as a teenager, once had to build a shelter and figure out how to signal a helicopter when lost in a fog and who has since scaled Mount Washington, speaking on the floor of the Assembly, he said, can never seem daunting.
