Staves,
BDUTroop-Style Staves,
BDUTroop-Style One of the "venerated" traditions of Scouting which seems to have fallen largely out of favour in the modern movement is the creation and use of a Scout Staff.
There have always been some who thought of the Scout staff as an unnecessary element of the program - more likely to be used irresponsibly by the youth; play-acting at jousting, for instance- than being of any practical use. As near as we can tell*, eventually those people won-out, and the staff was dropped from the program. By our (perhaps imperfect) memory - in a move on a par with cancelling the Avro Arrow program, to some - the staff was omitted from the Scouts Canada program at the same time as the Queen's Scout award itself was dropped - in 1968. (* If you can supply more of the story, please let us know and we will put it here)
(On a personal side note, Skip still remembers being selected by the Montreal Star photographer, at the last Queen Scout award ceremony in Quebec, for a picture with then Lieutenant-Governor General of Quebec, Rt. Hon. Hughes Lapointe. At the time imagining he was singled-out for his good looks, and later receiving his father's opinion that he was simply the only Scout in the ceremony who was even shorter than the Lt.Gov.Gen.)
Why Bring it Back?
We still remember our own youth (as late as the mid-60's), when it was actually a Tenderpad requirement to make a Staff. In this modern age of organized sports, extracurricular programs at school, various activity camps, etc.., there are precious few elements in today's Scouting program which truly distinguish Scouting from any other experience or opportunity our youth may have. Pioneering is the first. The badge program is the second. The Scout Staff is the third.
We feel it is very important to help restore and preserve this original Scouting tradition, before it becomes a lost art. We know B-P would agree! (see recommended reading).
What is a Staff?
As per the Boy Scouts Canada book "Tenderfoot to Queenscout" - Tenderpad requirement #8 - "...It is 5ft., 6in,. in length, and is marked in feet from the bottom, with the top six inches marked in inches, for use in measuring when needed. Sometimes it carries at its top or on one side a carved head or figure of the Patrol animal or bird of its owner, and below this a notched record of his Scouting history.... It should be of stout straight wood, 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 inches in diameter, and fairly light in weight, when seasoned. Suitable woods are hickory, as, oak and good grades of elm not showing more than 15 year rings; sugar maple, wild cherry, yellow birch, mountain ash and saskatoon. When such natural wood staves are not procurable, as in many Prairie districts, an old but sound broomstick makes an admirable substitute...The staff should be carried slung by a thong looped over and behind the right shoulder. The thong is passed through two small holes about ten inches apart in the upper third of the staff, - so placed that the staff clears the ground by several inches. The thong is secured by small stop-knots....". We have scanned the relevant pages of the 1965 version of Tenderpad to Queescout for your reference and use.
Another traditional addition to a staff is to affix a Patrol flag or pennant on the Patrol Leader's staff. We have scanned a page from an old issue of the British scouting annual Pathfinder, showing some creative ideas for patrol pennant design.
Recommended Reading
BDUTroop recommends the following reference material, having found it to be useful in our own endeavours:
Last updated: 1 November, 1999
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