To say I was born into scouting would be an understatement. Both my mother and my father served as scout leaders. My mother having been both a den leader and a Girl Scout leader, while my father served as Scoutmaster. Additionally, my two brothers, as well as sister, were also in scouting. One of my brothers not only had the honor of making Eagle Scout, but also was in first in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida's Troop 132 to ever achieve such a position. I too enjoyed the pleasure of participating in both Brownies and Junior Scouts while living in West Palm Beach, Florida. Regrettably, I have only memories left from my scout days and therefore am unable to provide unit numbers. Additionally sad is the fact that scouting records fail to go back that far. Having had a real appreciation for scouts, I spent much of my childhood dreaming of the day I could become a leader too. That dream became a reality in 1990, when my oldest son became a Cub Scout. I had the pleasure of participating with him as he joined the ranks of Tiger Scout and was thrilled to serve first as his Wolf Leader and then his Bear Leader in Pack 740, of Jupiter, FL. If that wasn't enough, I took on the role of co-leader in 1992, for Brownie Troop 124 of Jupiter, FL, in an effort to help make scouting available for my niece as well.

In 2001, with my third sons coming of age, I once again found myself back in scouting. Currently serving as the Cub Master for Pack 412 in Floral City, Florida I am excited to see this family tradition continuing on. My scouting days are far from over as I have two more sons anxiously waiting their turn at scouting. My finale joy will be with my youngest, a girl, where I look forward to a whole new world of Scouting experiences!

My first exposure to the frenzy of patch trading happened during a weekend clean up at Camp Tanah Keeta, in the Gulf Stream Council. Well into the night, long after most "normal" people had crawled into their sleeping bags, I noticed some activity-taking place inside the mess hall. My curiosity getting the best of me- I had to find out what was going on. Little did I expect, that I would see both scouts and leaders engaged in something totally new to me, the fine art of patch trading! Each individual was eagerly showing off his collection, while simultaneously drooling over the next one! A dedicated scout, such as myself, could hardly miss out on this exciting new activity. As you might expect, I immediately caught the patch trading fever!

Ultimately I would love to have every patch available (as I am sure that every other patch collector would as well!). Realistically, I know that will never happen. My family, for one is thankful for that! Patch trading, however, is fun; and part of that excitement is the opportunity to add a new patch to your collection. Even more fun than collecting new patches is the stories and people behind each trade. For with every new trade comes an exciting new scouting experience. Don't have a patch to trade? No problem, I would still love to hear your story!