Welcome, everybody, to Midday Magazine for this Thursday, January 2nd, 2024.
Have your host, James J. Mailov here.
At 4.30 today, we're going to talk to our good friend, Anna Mitchell, Natural Resource
Educator with UW-Madison Division of Extension.
Looking forward to that.
Been looking forward to this all week.
We got our great friend, Kevin Krieger, and with us, District Chairman of our Scouting
America.
Kevin, good to see you.
Good to see you.
Good morning and good afternoon.
Good to see you.
And you brought in a new friend.
We have Sam Hansen with us, District Executive of Scouting America.
Sam, thanks for being here.
Thank you.
I'm excited to be here.
I really appreciate the time.
And Sam, I'm going to put you right on the spot.
I mean, ask you questions.
No, I'm kidding.
I just, with new people, we love to get to know you a little bit, and especially with
Scouting America, which we're going to get more into the organization and talk about
the great work that's being done with our kids and our community with Scouting America.
But to get, just to get to right away, Sam, I'd like to get to know you a little bit
more.
Are you involved in Scouting America and telling us a little bit about your background, a
little bit about your origin story and stuff?
Well, what really got me into the Boy Scouts is being involved in it when I was in high
school and getting to go on trips through a cowed lead ones.
And that's really what led me to follow my passion in the outdoor industry, going to
school for conservation and working in county parks.
And then moving up here to Wisconsin to go hunting and fishing all the time, that's really
what drug me up here.
And then finding this position with the Boy Scouts has been amazing.
Getting to see the youth involved with our community and the outdoors has been very
rewarding.
So when I'm hearing from you is the main job is the hunting and the fishing and then
this is kind of like, this is cool.
No, that's awesome.
And I think it's one of the things that certainly brings a lot of people to our state, a lot
of people here to enjoy so much of what Wisconsin has to offer more than other states
do.
It's really unique and to hear and I was kind of thinking about this over the weekend
as I was prepping for this interview and talking to a talk to a lot of people, especially
people up north and how we're losing so many people that are interested whether it's
hunting or ATV riding or so many of the activities that we love in this state, we're not getting
enough younger people into these things.
So hopefully we can keep them around for the next 20 years or anything.
I think from what I've been able to find and I imagine you guys know better than I do,
scouting America has been very helpful with this and getting a lot of young, along with
four agents and some other organizations, don't want to be late to that, of getting young
people, hey, nature's right here for you.
Like nature's just waiting for you and getting kids out there and seeing how much fun Mother
Nature has to offer.
Exactly.
I totally agree on that.
Is that something that I don't want to say that is like one of your main goals or anything
there, but that does feel like an intertwined in scouting America.
Would you say that it is kind of getting kids in, but engage in these things?
Well, I do.
And with how we are adapting with scouting America with our program, I mean, this Cubsco
program just did a big change in it and they're involving more of the outdoors along also
with the technology end of it.
So because obviously for kids get a little bit bored, I had two boys, you know, trying
to get them in the hunting and sitting there for 12 hours in a tree stand.
They kind of get bored.
So yeah, they had their technology with them, but getting them out there still and able
to use the technology along with being in the outdoors.
And then we kind of adapted that with Wisconsin.
Everything over time has to adapt.
They were talking about this in the 20s.
They were talking about it in the 30s and the 40s.
This has always been the case.
It's just we've never had technology be so influxed in things and had so many.
It only makes sense as we go longer and longer in all of this in life and everything.
We're going to have more and more options and more and more things come up to distract
or to pull people away.
And just like fashion trends, everything comes back around.
I do think that as these things, we may see low numbers right now.
Thanks to organizations like yours to the kind of work that our UW-4H is doing and stuff.
I do think that this stuff comes back around.
You're going to see higher numbers at some point, whether it's in the next year or
in a decade, whatever it might be.
But I think that one of the more important things to about what Scouting America does is
keeping this stuff relevant.
Not only is it important to have these organizations around, but time only moves one direction
Sam.
And to adapt to the modern times, to adapt to things like Kevin was talking about there,
that's not bending the mission or the message of what you guys do.
It's adapting and evolving it.
It's just me saying that.
Is that what you see it as?
Oh yeah, I totally agree.
I think one of the best things that come from offering this program to all the youth is
that a lot of them are in urban areas and that don't have access within walking distance
to a park, a nature reserve.
And when we allow our scouts to be joined with these programs, they get access to those
areas more readily.
And they know that that's a safe space for them to go and enjoy, to go learn how to hunt
and fish, but to also learn how to provide for that area with a lot of our service projects
that we do.
So it's very rewarding for everyone that's involved.
There's a few things that are greater to me.
I think here in a kid laugh is one of the greatest sounds you'll ever hear.
But seeing a kid when they catch their first fish or something, that's just one of the
best seeing.
It's one of the best feelings.
That is very similar to a lot of the experiences they will have getting out there.
The first time they see a wild animal or something like that, to give these kids that opportunity,
it's not just great and gives them maybe more empathy to other industries.
I'm a city boy, but when I first moved up here, my non-Ampapa had me spend a morning
on a farm.
And ever since then, I've had an empathy and understanding of that industry a little
bit better, a little bit more.
That got me young with that.
I think you're doing a lot of that in this too.
Not every kid goes on to work in nature or have a nature hobby, but they have a little
more empathy, a little more understanding of that world.
So when there's maybe a bill that comes up and you're voting on it, or any kind of wild
amount of things that could go on as adults, you have a little more empathy for that stuff.
You have a little more understanding of it.
I think there's that part of this too that's really key.
That helps out.
Yeah.
I agree with that.
One of the other things that I think that is fun about this too is not just giving
kids an opportunity to maybe they wouldn't have otherwise.
But certainly the kids that do do these activities and giving them other ways of enjoying these
things.
Maybe they already hunt and they've already learned some of that or they know fishing
or some of the other activities, giving them an opportunity to see that there's even
more.
Not just those things.
Because while I focus on that stuff a lot, there are, like, scouting has got so many different
layers to it.
There's almost no skill set that your kid is not going to improve on from being a part
of scouting.
Even as an adult leader though too.
I mean, you actually are learning right along with the scouts because, I mean, back when
I first started, I had no idea how to use a Dutch oven.
I mean, I learned how to cook on a Dutch oven.
Now I love you doing that.
I cooked over a campfire with a tripod, growing up with my parents and everything, Dad.
But a lot of this is not only learning for the youth.
Learning for the adults too right along with it.
Something to keep in mind a little bit later.
We're going to be looking for volunteers, looking for people to be involved with scouting
and everything.
So you adults out there, keep listening, keep that in mind.
I did want to touch on some events that you guys got coming up.
You have something really fun on the way.
You want to do the mid-state one?
Yeah.
So January 18th, we have a mid-state event for Merit Badge College.
And this is where we're going to be offering a bunch of different merit badges for our youth
that involve technology, welding.
That's what I'm saying.
Yeah.
There's a lot of them.
Yes, there's a lot.
Crime prevention.
Firefighter.
Yeah.
Fire.
Those are good ones, yeah.
I mean, we're going to, they're letting us kind of take advantage of the situation we
have in some instructors that are helping us out with that along with our Merit Badge
College.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We're trying to, you know, get a partnership with mid-state because it's a great resource
out there to do that and looking for more resources to work with these guys.
Keep that in mind, Denny.
You businesses out there, any of your organizations out there, a great way to not only excel your
organization on profit, school, whatever it might be, but also to be showing how much
you might be finding people that will be working in your industry from scouting eventually.
That's important.
No.
Sam, I was with you.
I'm trying to come up with the names for badges.
Because there's so many of them and just real quick, I'm a little curious about this
and I've talked to you a little bit about it before Kev2 and everything.
How much that is evolved as well.
There were the badges that were around when you and I were kids in Kevin, but now there's
even more.
That is also evolved to modern times.
Yeah.
I mean, one of the Merit Badges that we were trying to get with mid-state, but it's just
one of the work I was called Animal Science and because they have a great program over
in the Marshville area, admins with their agriculture under the bed.
That would have been a really cool cool one to get going, but we just didn't work out.
But yeah, we're always evolving, like I said, with the technology, the digital technology
they have, that's kind of a new within the last probably 10, 15 years and it's a really
cool one to have.
Good.
If your kid enjoys a certain subject or if they really excel at a certain subject, there's
probably a badge for that there's just so many of them out there and while it's great
to give so much, I believe, as adults, our job is to build up kids, to genuinely build
up kids.
I mean, everybody gets a trophy day.
I don't mean that.
I mean, like, generally building them up and giving them opportunities to learn and grow
and show that it's okay to fail.
Just keep getting up.
A lot of those things, scouting is that one-on-one, like it really embodies that.
Yeah, I mean, and that's the thing, we don't, you know, yeah, you're going to fail.
But us as leaders, you know, we kind of use it as a teacher moment and hopefully they
continue on.
A lot of the skills that they do is life skills and it goes that way.
One of the things that I talk about a lot with almost every guest I have in when it comes
to Midday Magazine here is, we just never know what Spark might get started in a kid and
how they're taking a class or they're trying to get a badge and knots or something and that
leads them to want to go into the Navy.
You know, who knows?
But there's so many different things that these things can spring off in a kid's brain
and they just go and take this, this is their path.
This is where they go.
The advantages of having your kid involved in scouting are just, I don't think we have
enough time to count all of them.
Yeah, I don't really know.
I have to be the whole hour of doing that.
Speaking with Kevin Sam and Sam from scouting America right now and this event at Midstate,
what are the time and dates again for it?
So it's January 18th, 9am to 1pm and we can sign up through the calendar for the Samo
Set Council.
Okay.
No, you are fine.
You are fine.
You were killing it.
You were doing an amazing job.
And the website, SamoSet.org is the website that is S-A-M-O-S-E-T dot org, SamoSet.org.
You threw it into your search engine puffs right up, sure it did for me on a great resource
and a great place to find some of the information that you might as we're talking about here
today.
I also wanted to talk about how kids can get involved in this, how parents can get
involved in scouting America.
That is a big part of not only what we do here, but what we're trying to do going forward.
Got a good turnout, got good kids involved in it right now, but we want to keep that going
and everything.
One of the things that I think is unique that I didn't know about scouting until my sister
was in Brownie and she got involved with Girl Scouts and everything and I didn't realize
how involved my mother would be in it and how she just really enjoyed it and got really
into it because she never got to do that kind of thing either as a kid.
So to parents out there, I don't never think it's necessarily a great thing for a parent
to live by carelessly through their kid that can get a little muddy.
This is one of those okay situations.
I think this one is, I embrace that actually.
I think it's very cool for the parent, the kid to get involved with this stuff, especially
if he was a parent.
When you were a kid, you didn't get to do these things.
Yeah.
And one of the things that we've talked about now, everybody thought it was a boy scouts
of America and they are rebranding and I think the official time is going to be officially
branded.
It's going to be the first part of February and it's going to be called Scouting America
but everybody's kind of starting to get used to saying it now.
And I've been to, when the first we started doing our recruiting during the open houses
at the beginning of the school year, everybody's like well, I thought scouting was just for
boys and that's why they are rebranding called Scouting America.
It is going to be, it's for both boys and girls from the eight, from Kenny Garden right
up to the age of 18 when you're, and but then scouting doesn't stop at the age of 18.
We have venture crews.
So that goes until you're 21.
And so if you want to get involved in scouting, if you've got kind of on offense, go to the
STEMOSET council website and hit join scouting and what it would do.
Once you go into that, it'll get you linked up to your school district and what schools
are, what units are involved with each school kind of in their districts and that will
go from there.
You have to agree with that unit, but if the need will just try to get you in that contact
with that leader.
Yes, set me up perfectly, man, because one of the main things I wanted to get to with
you guys today is talking about this change in this evolution.
I've talked about it, you know, they're changing the evolution of this thing.
We've actually talked about this with a lot of organizations.
To me, it's nothing about saying how things were done.
That's, it is what it is and that's, that's cool how they did things now.
As again, time only moves one direction, we have to evolve with things and just speaking
for myself, I would much rather having a scouting America than nothing and that's something
that could happen if we did keep things kind of the status quo and the way they were.
By doing this, it's rising tide raises all boats kind of situation where all girl scouts,
brownies, boy scouts, all of these organizations coming together and really giving kids
an opportunity.
Not about the sex, not about any of that, but about the kids having a chance to do this.
I also think one of the cool things that can happen with this and I imagine has already
been happening with this is the empathy of boys and girls and having more understanding
of each other and more empathy for each other.
We kind of separated them for a while.
Do you notice this?
For our generations growing up and everything, we had a lot of things that separated us,
whether it was sex ad or whatever.
And then all of a sudden when it comes to the school dance, you wonder why the kids aren't
going next to each other and talking and everything.
Of course they were, we were scared of each other.
This maybe having stuff like this growing up and everything with more and more of this,
we have kids that aren't afraid of each other as some of that.
And I say that jokingly, but in all seriousness, I think that there is something that's so
key to that going forward.
I talk a lot about domestic violence on the air and how important it is for understanding
of that.
Young kids, young boys growing up in doing classes and doing things with young girls and
only creates a better empathy, a better understanding of that.
And I'm not saying it cures it, but boy does it help.
There are so many layers to what scouting America can do and is doing right now.
And opening up for everybody and having all, everybody just come on in, that just creates
such a better society going forward, I think, for our kids.
And I would, you know, you kind of set me up a little bit too because there are some
new training coming up with some of us adult leaders is that obviously mental health.
Yeah.
Actually, they're actually trying to come up with a program to train the leaders to recognize
that stuff.
And there you go, they're evolving, they're trying to make sure that we're on top of things
too.
And we're spending so much time with the youth that if we see something, we're going
to be able to, you know, you recognize it and move forward on it.
We, none of us are getting ahead in the sand.
We all know the world that we're in right now and how things can be.
So it's all the more reason for not only organizations like this, but to get involved in organizations
like this out there to all you adults.
I think a lot of people might be listening and thinking, well, my kids are older or like,
you know, or something.
And maybe I don't, I wouldn't be involved in this.
Well, we're always looking for volunteers.
We're always looking for good adults in the community.
We are, we are looking for any different areas for behind the scenes type people that
will be willing to step up, you're going to, you've been in a shelter in the past.
I mean, we could always use to help as a commissioner role or, or involved in our district committees
and things like that.
So, I mean, that's, if you're interested, I mean, just reach out on the website, we'll
get you to the right person.
Yeah.
And there's, there's nothing better than the feeling of being a role model for, for youth
and young adults and involving yourself in this program, you get to help with those little
tiny niches that people are really good at.
And also just getting to see pure joy with every meeting and every event that we host.
This is the moment that kids are going to have memories about and you get to be a part
of that.
Very well set.
Yeah.
Oh, that's a great, that hit me.
Yeah.
That's a good moment right there.
I wanted also to just really quickly before we wrap up and everything, we're doing our
show of course here in Central Wisconsin and Wisconsin Rapids to people listening outside
of the area.
Who is exactly, in this particular part of this, is anybody, is there anybody that can
or can't be involved in scouting America in Central Wisconsin here, is it certain counties,
certain areas or all come, all welcome.
So on our scouting website, you can look up by your area code, what district you are in.
So that's kind of similar to county's, but a district cover is multiple counties.
And then that's all within a certain council.
So ours is the SamoSat council and we cover from Nukusa all the way up to Rylander.
Actually, we're actually in, they got that one area in Duluth now that, because of the
council.
That council that was in Minnesota, actually, at the despand.
So we picked up, we did pick up that council, that unit, those units up in like the Duluth
area.
But yeah, I mean, that is pretty cool actually, that's pretty neat.
You know, again, kids getting to talk to other kids from other counties or even another
state or anything, that's only going to create more and more knowledge and more sharing
of that and just an understanding of those things too.
That's really cool actually.
Well, I remember my oldest son, which is Sam's fiancee, but so there is a connection
how we got her involved with the area.
But anyways, he went to a leadership training at, when he was in, it's called NWLT National
Youth Leader Training.
He actually met some pretty cool guys from the degree bay area that, I know for a while
there, he wasn't contacted with them, but, I mean, throughout the time, they just had
a, but yeah, in the summertime, when they're up to the summer camp, there's kids from all
over.
There's some scout, some units from Illinois, they're up there, because camp to Somas is one
of the top camps in the state, in the country.
And so, you know, we do get some units from Minnesota, some from Michigan, so they do travel
to our area and go into the camp too.
And well, I think it's really cool to hear about the Minnesota organization being involved
with ours and what that can create.
I also want to use that as a bell weather in some ways of, you know, we don't want that
to happen to our area.
We don't want to be, we don't want to lose our organization, our spot here.
That's why we need you guys out there, we need volunteers, we need adults, we need kids
to be involved with this organization.
If people want to volunteer, if there is adults out there listening, they would love
to be a part of these things.
Send them to the website, is that the quickest way to get them involved?
Yeah, I think it is, because they can, you know, do the contact, contact us and, and
then they'll, they'll either give our, our, my number or Sam's number and we'll get
them involved.
That works.
Now, see, I, I appreciate you sharing it a little bit of that tie in for Sam, because I
thought it was Sam and Sam of set and you just, this is really up.
You guys were great.
Thank you so much for joining us today, looking forward to hanging out again and talking
real soon, as other events and other things come up, we'll have you guys on on a regular
basis and everything.
And Sam, nice work, nice job today, nice to have you.
Always good to see you, Keb.
Thank you so much for the time.
All right, thanks, James.
And if you want to find out more and be a part of things, go ahead and go to SamoSet.org
that is, S-A-M-O-S-E-T dot org, throw it into your search bar, should be able to find
it real easy, SamoSet.org.
Well, a more midday magazine coming up for you right here at 97.5 FM, 13.20 AM, WFHR,
we are locally grown radio.
