Program prepares Webelos for future as Boy Scouts

July 28, 2013 at 12:06a.m.

CANFIELD

Like many youngsters his age, Timmy Focht enjoys learning new skills.

Unlike most 10-year-olds, however, he’s not averse to traveling more than 1,000 miles each year to accomplish that goal.

“My favorite [activity] was archery because I got dead-center on the range,” said an excited Timmy, who came with his father, Nathan Focht, in a recreational vehicle from their Clermont, Fla., home to take part in an annual Webelos Scouting program at Camp Stambaugh, 3712 Leffing-well Road.

Hosting the four-day gathering, themed “Native American Webelos Summer Camp,” is the Greater Western Reserve Council, Boy Scouts of America.

Participants set up and slept in six tepees on the grounds.

An estimated 75 boys and 75 adults, most from Mahoning, Ashtabula, Portage, Geauga and Trumbull counties, are participating in the camping experience, which wraps up today with an awards ceremony.

The Webelos program allows boys in grades four and five to learn a variety of skills to better prepare them for becoming Boy Scouts, said Jim Rapone, program director.

Swimming, archery and target practice with BB guns are three main staples, Rapone said.

In addition, Webelos take part in activities and planned sessions to earn activity pins in the categories of outdoorsman, showman, aquanaut, forester, naturalist and geologist.

On Saturday, Timmy was among about a dozen youngsters who took their best shots with BBs at paper targets on the range.

The boy also wore a belt on which was displayed a variety of loops, each for having fulfilled a skills requirement. One was for using various fasteners to make chess pieces to go with a leather, fold-up chess board.

“Here, they do a really good job of tying the Scouting lessons with the theme they pick,” Nathan Focht said, referring to a main reason he and his son continue to make the annual trek.

Focht, who owns a software company, expressed pride that Timmy recently passed his advanced-swimming test at Camp Stambaugh.

Before returning to Florida, the two will join Timmy’s 8-year-old brother, Joshua, who is at a Cub Scout camp in Ovid, N.Y., added Nathan Focht, who also was a Cub Scout and a Boy Scout.

Instructing the boys on safety and the basics of shooting BB guns was Albert Pospisil, a shooting-range master.

Successfully running the Webelos program requires some innovative and straightforward behind-the-scenes work and cooperation. That’s where people such as Lexy Pierson of Champion come in.

“I take the boys to their stations and help them with their activities,” said Pierson, a senior who takes classes online and also is one of the event’s six guides. “At their stations, I try to help wherever I can.”

The program’s main thrusts are to make it easier for the youngsters to transition to being Boy Scouts, as well as to instill in them important life lessons, noted Bud Bower, camp director.

For example, the Scouts learned the value of perseverance, one of Scouting’s 12 core virtues, by working outdoors in Saturday’s light rain, Bower explained.

The boys also return home more prepared for success in life after learning core skills that could have major implications, he continued.

“On top of being a good person,” Bower noted, “there’s the chance they may save somebody’s life someday.”