Boy Scouts helps open doors to opportunity

Will Repman is working with several troops to raise money to attend Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico.

“I’ve been involved in scouting for a very long time, since 1981 when I was 11 years old.

“I earned Eagle Scout when I was 17, but I didn’t really know what that meant until I got to be about 25. It helped me get involved in different things at work and in my life, and I was able to excel higher up at a younger age because I had a drive in me.

“Whenever somebody asked me to do something, as long as it wasn’t unsafe or immoral, I just did it. Even if I didn’t know how to do it, I figured it out. Scouting gave me the skills to be able to do that. It’s not just about tying knots or fixing somebody’s leg. It’s about being calm in a situation and figuring things out.”

Why do you enjoy being a scout leader?
“It may sound corny to some people, but you really do get to watch a child grow into a man. And that’s really, really neat. Scouting has opened a lot of doors for me and it can do the same thing for these guys.”

— Will Repman