Scouting Leaders for Life | Ken Melhorn

Episode Transcript of: Scouting Leaders for Life | Ken Melhorn

 

Alan
Welcome back. I’m here today with Ken Melhorn. Ken is executive director at the Bay Area Boy Scouts. Welcome to today’s show.

Ken
Thanks, Alan. Thanks for having me here.

Alan
So you kind of at 20,000 Scouts in the organization here,

Ken
our footprint is the San Francisco Bay Area Council, and that includes Alameda and San Francisco counties. So it’s a really small geographical footprint area. But it’s there’s a lot of kids a lot of available youth in those communities.

Alan
So Ken, what got you involved in scouting, give me some background, how you got to where you are today?

Ken
Well, that’s a long story. Like a lot of kids of our generation, I was brought up in scouting. My dad, actually, believe it or not worked for the Boy Scouts of America. And as a child of a scouting family, it was pretty much the kind of thing had to do. So I became a scout a Cub Scout, way back in the 60s and 70s, and a boy scout and I became an Eagle Scout along with my brothers. And it was just an exciting time for our family. My two sisters both achieve the highest Girl Scout award, I’m not sure what it’s called. But they both achieve that recognition. And my education, my background, I was also very interested in music. And so my education was such that I became a music educator, a teacher, bachelor of music education, and I wanted to be a teacher for for years and years and years of Scout growing up, but also a band directors what I want it to be. And so I tried teaching for a few years, and somehow, I just never got the practice to be a teacher. And when it finally experienced, it said, this is not really something that I’d like to do for the rest of my life. So one day in early 1984, I woke up and I said, you know, it was the summer school was out. And I walked over to drove over to the scout office in Corpus Christi, Texas and said, I’d like to go to work for the Boy Scouts. And they said, we have two job openings. Which one do you want? And that’s what started it for me.

Alan
Excellent. So it’s, you know, so the transition was from a teacher to moving into an org. You know, the scouting organization to me is one that teaches a lot of leadership in the boys, boys lives. And did you find that it was a natural shoo in? Or was there any training or transition that you had to do from the, you know, going through the the band teacher to the scouting director?

Ken
Not really not really, I think that the shoe and would have been the education that I received in the boy scouts? I mean, yeah, we talk about Boy Scouts, providing leadership skills and leadership traits to young people. But I was a recipient, I’m, I’m a product of the program. And so whatever skills I learned in school, in college, maybe in my brief experience as a teacher, probably pale in comparison to what the Boy Scouts gave me in my ability to adapt into the program, I knew what I had received. And I guess in a way, it was part of giving back to the organization when I went to ask for a job for the Boy Scouts.

Alan
What is it? What does it take to run, you know, to run the organization today as the scouting executive?

Ken
Well, it’s kind of a combination of skill sets, you’re an employer. So you really need to have a background in human resources, or HR department, sometimes is me. And sometimes I can find somebody who has a skill set in that area. You need to be a fundraiser, you need to be able to be out in the community and talk to the wealthy and talk to corporations and talk to foundations and help to sell them on our program and what we do for kids. There’s a certain amount of pushing paper and being a pencil pusher, the administrative side of running an organization. We’re not a very we’re not a small nonprofit. Our budget is about 5.6 million per year we have about 3035 employees, not counting our seasonal employees or summer camp staff and other part time. So there’s a lot to do with regard to keeping the organization going and doing what it does for young people.

Alan
And in you have a couple of camps involved with the Bay Area.

Ken
Absolutely. Now there are Boy Scout camps all around the Bay Area, but the two camps so we’ll we actually have three camps in the San Francisco Bay Area Council. One is Rancho Los mochas, and that that is our kind of a weekend training camp that we have. We also have a camp near Willits, California, north of here about three hours called went a scout reservation. And the third camp is I’m I’m told the oldest boy scout camp west of the Mississippi. And that’s camp Renee, which is near Castro.

Alan
I visiting here today with Kim Melhorn. He’s Executive Director of the Bay Area Boy Scouts, can we need to take a quick break and we’ll be right back after these messages. And I’d like to talk more about how that scouting organization got started.

Alan
I’m visiting here today with Ken Melhorn. He is the executive director of the Bay Area Boy Scouts and Ken before the break, we talked about how you got to where you are today in your career. But I like to I like to turn the page and say how did scouting get started?

Ken
Well, that’s an interesting story this year Scouting is 103 years old. There’s not many organizations that we can look at, and see them to be over 100 years old and still be providing the same kind of services and for sale items that the Boy Scouts continue to offer today. But the Boy Scouts of America was started in 1910. But you have to know the backstory and the Boy Scouts as an organization was kind of invented by Lord Robert Baden Powell, a British citizen. And he was famous as general in their army and their military. And when he came back for his retirement, he decided by looking around in England and in London that there was just too many boys on the street with nothing to do nothing wholesome and worthwhile for them to do. So he started this organization called scouting for boys. And he simply wrote a manual and it was picked up and it was begun in England, and it took off very, very well. A visiting American businessman named William Boyce was travelling in London at the time in 1909. And he was lost in the London fog and he needed directions to get to where his business appointment was. And lo and behold, a young man dressed in uniform of sorts, came upon this man and said, Can I help you to where you’re going? And sure enough, at the end of being guided to his destination voice decided he tried to tip this young man. And the boy said, No, I don’t take it tip. I’m a scout. So I can’t accept that voice was intrigued. And he said, What is this? And the boy told as much as he knew about the new organization. And boys asked him to remain while he went into his appointment. And afterwards, he said, Would you please take me to this Lord Robert Baden Powell, I’d like to talk to him about this new organization. And that’s where it all started. So boys brought the program of the Boy Scouts back to America. And it they published books. And the program actually, at that time just was picked up by boys reading this manual, and decided they wanted to have an organization and have a troop or a pack and do scouting on their own. It was only much later that offices and administrative systems were put into place to help keep the organization going. So that’s kind of the start of the Boy Scouts of America. To this day. They don’t know who that young man was in England, they call him the unknown scout. And there’s actually a badge the highest recognition that the Boy Scouts of America can offer a call the silver Buffalo was presented to this unknown Scout many, many years ago.

Alan
What does it mean when the scouts have a concept called leave? No trace?

Ken
Oh, I don’t know if the Boy Scouts of America coined that expression. I’d certainly be interested in knowing where but it basically is conserving and respecting the out of doors Leave No Trace can be the same as take nothing from your outdoor activities and your camping experiences take nothing but photographs, and leave nothing but footprints. So leave no trace is basically enjoy the outdoors. View it be a part of it. But don’t mark it and don’t undo what you might find there.

Alan
Scouting is more than just camping, isn’t it? Why? Why is honors so important?

Ken
Well, well camping is a very foundational element of the Boy Scouts of America kids in small groups. We call them patrols or troops in small groups go out and do camping, but they’re doing so much Moreover, they’re not simply existing for a weekend. They’re they’re planning their own activities. They’re doing their own games, they’re doing their own projects. They plan and carry out their own menus and they do their own cooking. And it’s from that experience that kids learn a whole lot more about leadership and working with one another. They’re just scouting. The outdoor environment is, I guess, an outdoor learning laboratory for them.

Alan
Can we need to take a quick break Okay, and we’ll be right back after these messages and then like to get more into what the scouting organization represents. Okay, and we’ll be right back after these messages.

Alan
Welcome back and busy here today with Ken mill horn. He’s Executive Director of the Bay Area, Boy Scouts and can picking up on scouting. What is it that some of our listeners might not know about the scouting organization?

Ken
Well, maybe the most common one is that the Boy Scouts of America also serves young ladies. Our age groups are from first graders through 18 for the boy scouts that starts in as tiger cubs and Cub Scouts going into we blow scouting and then the Boy Scouts. But at age 14 young ladies can be a part of our program and are venturing and are exploring programs and not a lot of people know that, that we also serve young ladies in scouting.

Alan
Now there are other programs that you may have for inner cities or

Ken
we do have a direct support program a direct service scouting program. And really that’s nothing more than the traditional scouting program being offered in an environment where it might be a little harder to serve. Lack of adult leadership might be a common problem. Finances are always some concern in some inner city environments, inner city areas. So we have that direct support program. It’s a key attraction for our board. They want to be able to provide scouting, wherever Scouting is necessary and as needed. We also have a program we have a great partnership with the Oakland Unified School District’s called learning for life. And that’s where we provide basically after school programming skills program engineering, programming, mathematics, programming music programming for kids on an after school basis in several schools in the Oakland Unified School District is called learning for life.

Alan
How does scouting train leaders of tomorrow?

Ken
Well, that’s an interesting question. And I’m sure that there’s a lot written on it. We essentially, if you think about scouting as a multi year program for young people, we essentially take a young person, whether he’s an 11 year old brand new scout or a seven year old Cub Scout, but let’s start with the 11 year old and we we guide him through a series of experiences, whether that might be cooking, or camping, or learning how to tie knots or learning how to sharpen a knife or use a knife properly or correctly. What we’re doing during that period of time is giving a youngster skills, helping a youngster appreciate that he has skills and an ability to accomplish things. And slowly over time, that skills set that he’s acquired turns into confidence. And throughout that skills learning experience, we give the boy an opportunity to earn some badges and get merit badges and get different colorful decorations for his uniform. And so he gets a sense of accomplishment as he goes through the program. So the acquisition of skills leads to self confidence and self worth. And pretty soon we asked that youngster part of achieving a certain badge we asked him to become a leader, while not a not a leader that you would expect to be up in front of a 300 person audience, but maybe an assistant patrol leader or maybe a scribe in the troop, maybe a quartermaster take on a leadership role and work in that role for a few months, giving that youngster again some experiences. Pretty soon he grows more confidence in that and then he can begin to teach other leaders or as he takes on even more leadership roles within the troop. He begins to help the younger boys who are coming in with their own skills development, becoming a teacher, a leader. Throughout the entire process, the Boy Scouts of America plots in programming elements of service doing for others and helping boys understand that Scouting is not just earning badges and doing for themselves. It’s helping their neighbor helping their community with its worthwhile projects. And pretty soon after a few years, the young boy has gone through this regimen, this protocol, if you will, and he’s become a senior patrol leader, and he runs the troop. And it’s from there that somehow slowly over time, he just realizes that I can be a leader. There’s nothing to this. It’s just a matter of organizing and working with other people, whether the peers and my patrol or peers in my troop, to get things accomplished, whether it’s a service project, or a camp out, or whatnot.

Alan
And have there been many scouts admin gone on to become great leaders in life.

Ken
There’s a few great examples, one of the best examples, and I should throw it in here as a as a punch for scouting. But one of the best examples is former Secretary of Defense, Dr. Robert Gates, he’s an Eagle Scout. And, and, frankly, He’s a distinguished Eagle Scout, he was given that badge as an adult. As you know, the eagle badge can only be earned by young men who are not have not reached their 18th birthday. But Dr. Gates is a perfect example of the kind of Scout who’s gone on to do great things, not only for himself, and his family and his community, but our country, and frankly, the world in his case. And he’d be the first one to sit here on your radio program and say scouting helped me achieve these things in my life. They have a dinner coming up for him, don’t we do we do we have an evening with Robert Gates, it’s going to be at the Ritz Carlton in San Francisco on December the 12th. And if anybody is interested in in that they can simply contact our office or look at the website and and get an opportunity to come here. Dr. Robert Gates in person,

Alan
why don’t you give their contact information if they want to?

Ken
Sure. 5100 code 577 9000 577 9000 Sure.

Alan
Phone number and then website

Ken
is a website is SFbac.org www.sfbac.org.

Alan
Okay. And that’ll be on December 12. Dr. Robert Gates, the former Secretary of Defense, that’s right at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, and what time does that start?

Ken
Oh, the receptions began at five and then the evening will conclude probably around nine or 915. Excellent.

Alan
Can you tell some of our listeners what are some of the other ways Scouting has helped? helped others?

Ken
Well, one of the best ways pardon me one of the best ways or best examples to give is recently concluded food drive. The Boy Scouts of America, many many years ago realized that there were several unacceptable occurring in our country. Among those unacceptable as were the use of drugs, illiteracy, and hunger, and to address each of these unacceptable as as they were termed the Boy Scouts of America came up with programs that could get our youth involved in helping to deal with these issues in modern day America. Well, since that time, the scouting for food program has occurred every year in s in this area, it’s typically in November, but in some other parts of the country. It could be other times during the year, but just this last Saturday, or maybe it was two Saturdays ago now the scouts got out on mass throughout the Bay Area, and collected more than 134,000 pounds of food, clothing and eyeglasses. We partner with the lions. Oh my gosh collected eyeglasses for people who need them.

Alan
Good stuff. Hey, can we need to take a quick break? And we’ll be right back after these messages. I’d like to hold you on for one more segment. Okay. Okay, thanks. So stay tuned.

Alan
Hoping you welcome back and with Ken Melhorn. He’s executive director of scouting for the San Francisco Bay Area Council and it can’t does scouting, build great friendships or do great friendship Build scouting?

Ken
I don’t think I’ve ever heard a question quite like that before. But I guess I guess you could find a number of examples for either way. I know you often hear folks talk about their childhood or their favorite teacher or friends through college and how they get back together every once in a while. I think the same is true in scouting, that you develop lifelong relationships and friendships that just continue to hang on. After you’re done with your scouting years. So I think I’d have to go 5050 On that question.

Alan
Okay. Okay. So fair enough. And going for it. What do you see as the future of scouting?

Ken
Well, one of scouting, constant issues or constant concerns is staying relevant with young people today. Kids today probably are no more mature or ready for life than you and I were when we were young. But they may be in some respects, a bit more sophisticated with all the technology that they have at their disposal. How can we, the Boy Scouts of America remain relevant not only to them as our customer, but to the other customers, we have the kids, parents, leaders and community leaders in our in our areas where we live. So staying relevant is one of our constant battles, I guess it’s it’s it’s part of what we do and making sure that we have the right kind of programming to continue to attract kids. The out of doors doesn’t necessarily have the same kind of appeal that it did years ago when the other technological advancements in video games and weren’t around. But I think what I like about Scouting is it continues from a national top down and a bottom up way to try to stay relevant in terms of modern day phenomenon, bullying, cyber bullying, we have programs and fresh programs that are coming out to help deal with that. We have programs concerning health and wellness for young people. Childhood obesity is a is an American problem today. And the Boy Scouts of America being a physically active program for young people in and outdoors program for young people are taking steps to try to address some of those issues, not to mention our approach and are taking a toehold or a foothold, if you will, and the exciting new programs of STEM science, technology, engineering and mathematics that’s very exciting today for young people. And the Boy Scouts of America can do something about that we already have badges merit badges that relate to those exciting fields. So there’s a lot that we’re doing. But I would suppose that the basics of scouting, continuing to provide leadership skills and workforce development skills. Those those will probably stay the same. We’ll stay close to those fundamental parts of scouting, all the while trying to become relevant in many other ways.

Alan
I can if someone wants to, to make a donation or contact you for more information, how did they do that?

Ken
Probably the same website that we introduced earlier. www.sfbac.org. Or they could call our office at 5779200. Of course, looking at the Boy Scouts of America, San Francisco Bay Area Council on the internet would be just as easy for them as well. So

Alan
and then there’s a December 12 Jennifer Dr. Robert Gates to former secretary of defense. And Well Ken, it’s been a pleasure having you on today’s show.

Ken
Thanks very much, Alan.

Alan
Thanks for joining us here in America dreams. Join us next week on AM 12 20k d o w

 

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