My friends, my mentors, my loves

As April was about to make its exit, my very close friend Cheryl Baraty, a woman of enormous charm and wit and a brilliant attorney, also made her exit from this earthly plane. Almost as if to not bring attention to herself, Cheryl's departure was quiet and as dignified as possible. She had made peace with the inevitable some time ago, even as relatives, friends, clients and associates hoped a miracle might be found to save her.

The last week of Cheryl's life was hardly anything that could be remotely considered as quality. From reports I received, she was so heavily medicated that the best she could do was sleep and feebly attempt to communicate through those still sparkling eyes.

While I was not there at the end, I had seen her several months ago in December, just as the ravages of the inoperable and terminal cancer began to take its toll on her frail frame. I talked to her over the phone in smidgens and jots of time. She was brave. She was courageous. She was never bitter, but kept a stiff upper lip as she began to deal with excruciating pain. The medication brought her relief, but the cost was to descend into a cloudy existence that dulled her and deadened her mind.

She stopped eating several days before her final passage. She had dropped a tremendous amount of weight and had no strength left in her. I had seen the same thing happen only a few months before in October when my other close Scouting friend, Gene von Rosenberg, went from being mobile and using a walker to having so little strength in his emaciated body that he was confined to a bed for the remainder of his few days. Gene, like Cheryl, was only 57.

Cheryl was old enough to have been a mother and raised a son, yet never would enjoy the plaintive sound of her grandchildren's laughter.

Gene never heard the sound of his own children, but reveled in hearing the sound of others' children, including my own son David. Like his father Dale, Gene was both an Eagle Scout and a Scoutmaster, a position he held for 30 years. All the Von Rosenberg men: Dale, Gene and his two other brothers, were Eagle Scouts.

Because she was a woman, Cheryl never had a youth spent in Boy Scouting, but enjoyed a long period as an established Cubmaster in Milwaukee and later became the local chair of the Jewish Committee on Scouting and the Central Region chair of the National Jewish Committee on Scouting. She considered being a Cubmaster as among the most satisfying of her pursuits. In her own way, she thought that connecting the local Jewish Scouts to their own religion might stem the tide of those who saw no relevance to their faith and practice and were tempted towards intermarriage and, possibly, divorce. Through her clients, Cheryl had seen what becomes of divorce and she wanted to alleviate their distress.

As a family lawyer, it was ironic to her that she and her husband had one of the most acrimonious of divorces and that she was unable to prevent years of abusive behavior and disrespect. Even while dealing with her own recalcitrant son, Cheryl reached out to others to push the Jewish Scouting program and help others.

She was a tireless fighter and possessed an indomitable spirit. As she sunk deeper and deeper into a drug-induced fog, she began to lose her most precious of gifts: her ability to communicate. She found she couldn't speak well and eventually used her eyes to indicate her approval or disapproval. Her ability to even hold small objects became a challenge. Yet, there she was hanging tough and persevering, holding on with every ounce of strength within her.

Her colleagues in the northern region at Market America and Shop.com, a firm for which she had been working for the past four years in her spare time, presented her with a special award they established in her honor last April. They named it the Cheryl Baraty Perseverance Award and have made it an annual honor.

Perseverance was a trait both Cheryl and Gene shared. They both fought as best they could before they gave themselves over to God. As always after death, we remember not how they died, but how they lived. The world is a little less interesting without Cheryl and Gene in it. Scouting has lost two of its best illustrations of selfless leaders. While they are gone now, the reasons they became involved with Scouting remain as true today as they were when they first began their associations.

I honor their name by continuing my work to the advancement of Scouting and to improve its image as best I can. They showed me the way to do it correctly and proudly and I salute them and thank the Great Scoutmaster that I had the opportunity to learn from them and work side by side with them. They were among my truest friends, my greatest of mentors and my deepest of pure loves.

Four days of fun (so far)

Rappeling down a tower at Jamboree

So far so good. The Jamboree has proven to be one of the most amazing adventures any youth or Scouting adult could ever undertake. Its scope is so vast that there is scarcely enough words to relay what opportunities are available to all of the youth, parents and interested parties who attend this 10-day event. There are scores of merit badges used for rank advancement in Boy Scouting, but there are also high adventure opportunities for older Scouts not interested in advancement or Venturers who want to feel the rush of adrenaline as they challenge different courses and, ultimately, themselves.

National Catholic Committee and National Eastern Orthodox Chairs flank NJCOS member

In addition to these opportunities for the Scouts there are large numbers of adult leaders - Scouters - who are there to provide leadership to individual troops who hail from across the country or across the globe or offering their services to enhance the overall experience. One of the more interesting aspects to the Jamborees is how the different religious faith groups support one another at the National Exhibits area. My work with the National Jewish Committee on Scouting has put me in contacts with hundreds of Scouts and Scouters of varying religious persuasions. We are all working for the same league, just on different teams.

BSA National Annual Meeting in Dallas

National Commissioner Tico Perez, left, with Alan

The Boy Scouts of America meets once a year in a venue that is determined by its National Council. Over the course of the past decade this important meeting of delegates from councils all across the land has been held in cities such as New Orleans; Boston; Philadelphia; Grapevine, Texas; Chicago; San Diego; Orlando and Dallas. This year's meeting is being held at the Hotel Anatole in Dallas, not far from the National Council's headquarters in nearby Irving. This is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Boy Scouts of America and much of the attention being paid by attendees is to the centennial Jamboree being held for the final time at Fort A. P. Hill in Caroline County, Virginia. This event will feature 50,000 Scouts from across the nation with 250,000 visitors slated to appear over the course of the nearly two-week long event. In reality it is like a small city that springs up literally overnight at the U. S. Army reservation. Over the course of the last 30 years that Fort A. P. Hill has been the permanent site of the Jamboree an infrastructure has been put into place (dining halls, sites for camping, toilet facilities, etc.). Following the departure of the Scouts this year in August, monies raised by the Scouts themselves will be used to tear down those structures and return the space back to its original green footprint. In this way the phrase "leave no trace" will truly figure in a meaningful way. The National Council of the BSA has purchased property for a new permanent site for future Jamborees in West Virginia and Virginia. This tract has yet to be improved and there is some question remaining as to how much of it will be developed by the time of the next Jamboree in the summer of 2013. After all, it has taken several decades to make the existing facilities at Fort A. P. Hill effectual, so it will take some time to build the facilities at the new site. Nonetheless, the emphasis for everyone is to make this 2010 Jamboree the most fun and safest event of its kind ever held. In the meantime, it's time to focus on how to deliver the Scouting program to local councils and to the Scouts themselves.

A Scouter Goes Home

William von Almen I, right, at my Wood Badge beading ceremony in 2003

William von Almen I, one of the most dedicated of Boy Scout leaders in the former New Orleans Area Council and the renamed Southeast Louisiana Council, went home to be with his Lord this past Monday morning. A past recipient of the Silver Beaver and Silver Antelope Awards presented on a local council and a regional basis, respectively, von Almen was among the best known Scouters from the New Orleans area. He and his first wife Mitzi donated thousands of dollars to several worthy projects through the years. Following her passing, Bill found companionship and love again with another distaff Scouter, his second wife Elaine. Bill and Elaine were so well known that they were featured in the promotional video placed on the National BSA Council's site when the Adventure Base 100 reached New Orleans the weekend before Mardi Gras this year. That video can be found here. Bill was a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow, Scouting's honor society, and served as the Associate Adviser to the Chilantakoba Lodge #397 and as the Vigil Honor Adviser for many years. He had also been acknowledged as a recipient of the Founders Award from the Order of the Arrow. He was a former Council Commissioner and at the time of his passing was the Vice-President of Programming. On a personal note, Bill was one of the most difficult and opinionated Scout leaders I ever dealt with over the course of my short Scouting career. When he served as my Wood Badge ticket counselor, we had huge arguments over what needed to be done in order to ensure that I was deemed worthy to have completed the five items that comprised my ticket. I am certain that I was as intractable as he was and I recall he even offered to resign on at least one occasion. But I would hear none of it. I wanted to do whatever was needed, even if it meant pleasing someone who was extremely hard to please. When he insisted I serve on the Introduction to Outdoor Leader Skills course in January of 2003 in sub-freezing weather, I wore shorts, partly in respect to "sweet old Bill," who long advocated that the only true Scouting uniform was the one with the short pants. The other reason was to prove to myself that I could do it. Yeah, I know; not the brainiest of moves. Despite my difficulty in dealing with von Almen, I still had the greatest respect for him. He gave of himself tirelessly to help promote Scouts and Scouting and was last seen at the Order of the Arrow's Section I-A Conclave this past weekend at Salmen Scout Reservation. He was obdurate and exacting and would reprove a Scout or a Scouter if he felt they were out of line. Yet he would also compliment them should they achieve a special rank or receive recognition. While it might not have been his nature to be warm and fuzzy, he nevertheless stuck to his guns about a great many things he believed in, especially how to keep America strong and the importance of leadership among youth members. He represented the best that this country stands for and was a staunch and devoted member of his church. A convert to Catholicism, he was one of the most adamant of adherents to his faith. Oftentimes, he would attend mass at Scouting events with his devoted wife Elaine. It is ironic that he died during the 100th anniversary year of Scouting in this country and that he will be unable to attend the Jamboree being held in July and August at Fort A. P. Hill for the last time. Both von Almens were looking forward to being there and his presence will be missed this year "on the hill." My prayers go out to his children, grandchildren and great-granchildren as well as his widow and I hope they will find solace in the legacy he leaves behind as a man who contributed mightily to the Scouting movement and whose mark on others will be felt for generations.

A short life well spent

Today was an especially hard day. Today we said goodbye to one of my troop's Boy Scouts, a 13-year-old boy who will never become an Eagle Scout, but who got so much out of the program and who so loved Scouting that he might well have been thought of achieving that hallowed rank. Zachary Malik Tyler was an amazing kid, a boy whose teachers, doctor and classmates all marveled at his kindness and cheerfulness despite years of courageously battling an insidious disease known as Langherhans Cell Histocytocis (or LCH). Zachary's parents permitted him to take part in Scouting activities like camping that might have scared others away and increased chances of infection. But there was no holding Zack back. In the end he succumbed to the ravages of a disease that shut down his organs, but kept his mind alert and focused. The outpouring of love for Zachary was evident at the memorial service held in his honor at Lakelawn Funeral Home. There was no body. This was not a funeral, but a celebration of his life. There were only pictures and videos of a really sweet kid enjoying life as best he could while dealing with the harshness and reality of his disease. The Lusher School Strings provided musical accompaniment in addition to choral singers and a guitarist. Special readings both religious and spiritual in nature including a poem written by Zachary were read aloud. Most of the memories recalled were humorous, revealing a playful side to Zack that everyone will recall many years hence. It was a hard day, but it was also one that bound everyone together in the celebration of this young man's life. I will be forever grateful and proud I was a part of it and sorry that I won't be able to share any more of my life with Zachary as a part of our troop. He may not have made Eagle Scout, but he was one of those rare Boy Scouts who truly understood the program and reveled in it. God speed, Zachary.

To blog or not to blog....

This may go down in the record books as one of the worst periods of blogging I have ever had. I offer my sincerest apologies to all of those who regularly read what has recently been a less-than-daily blog. Part of it has been due to an overabundance of work, while the other part has been that I've been out of town. It is usually my practice to recap a vacation after the fact rather than comment on it as it unfolds. Nevertheless, the period leading up to the National Annual Meeting of the Boy Scouts of America was especially busy and my ability to write was severely compromised. Even after I had left for Orlando, several clients, friends and family had expected I would be available for them with computing help, but I was forced to advise them of my departure and that I did not expect to return until late yesterday. Many of them know of my commitment to Scouting. I have been quite involved since my son was in lower school. My work has led me to work with dens and later Cub Scout packs. After that I became involved with Boy Scouts and Venturing. My dedication has led me to work on a district and council level and in some cases on a regional and national basis. I volunteer for two national committees at present and have become a dedicated member of the youth-led Order of the Arrow, the BSA's honor society of Scouts and Scouters. My eleven-hour drive to Orlando enabled me to learn more about the 100th anniversary of the BSA, with the crowning achievement expected to be the final Jamboree that will be held at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. in late July and August. Several factors are figuring in what I will cautiously announce as the greatest gathering of Boy Scouts in this country since its founding. Aside from the fact that it is the centennial year of Scouting in America, there are huge numbers of attendees and support personnel who are even now formulating plans to make this event a safe and meaningful experience for Scouts and Scouters alike with bigger and better displays and venues. There will be an Internet and multimedia presence at the Jamboree that will blow all other previous events out of the water. The Jamboree will be gigantic. But the good news for all of Scouting is that change has come to the BSA, like it or not. That was the theme of this year's meeting "Building the Brand." The "new BSA" is leaner and more consolidated, allowing councils to be supported in a better fashion than in the past. Chief Scout Executive Robert Mazzuca has restructured the administration and, with newly installed National Commissioner Tico Perez and President John Gottshalk lending logistical support, they are on the brink of bringing about much-needed dynamic changes for the organization founded by William Boyce and others in 1910. They are all working to make social networking like Twitter and Facebook a part of the Scouting family. In the coming months a new national BSA website will be unveiled and other interactive uses of the world wide web will follow. So, in a word, I am jazzed. I can't wait to contribute to this tremendous effort to revitalize and reinvigorate a movement that has lost momentum in trying times. But these are the times that demand young leaders, the type of leaders that Scouting will mint in the future. It is time to trumpet the praises of what Scouting means to kids across the nation who depend on it. It's time for everyone to stop pointing accusing fingers and lend a hand to raise up the youth who need what Scouting offers. I am ready to get the ball rolling as we advance towards the centennial year. In the meantime I will take an oath to be more regular in my blogging and try to continue to post items of interest in a more timely fashion. So, I'll do my best and hope that you will be prepared for them.