Boy Scout Troop 325
Scoutmaster Minute
Character
January 15, 2008
Larry Polyak, Scoutmaster

In Boy Scouts and in our Troop, we have a Court of Honor every three months. That is a time when we get together and hand out any merit badges, advancements, or other awards that scouts have earned over the previous three months. Adults get awards too, and at the last Court of Honor in November Mr. Duprey and Mr. Boyden received Scouter of the Year awards for their service to the troop.

It's nice to get awards and recognition for our achievements and good deeds. It makes us feel good and hopefully inspires us and others to do even more. We had a lot of awards at our last Court of Honor, and I remember going home that night, feeling pretty good about the troop and the way things went. Before I went to bed that night I turned the TV on for a little while. As I was watching some show, I don't remember what it was, I saw a sign on a wall in one scene. It wasn't discussed or even mentioned on the show, it was just in the background and I happened to see it. It said: "Character is what you are when no one is watching".

I thought "Wow, that's really true.". That's something that we should always remember. It is easy to do the right thing when someone is watching or when you know you will get rewarded for your actions, but in the end... "Character is what you are when no one is watching".

Thanks for listening .