Three boys and their leader hiked through deep snow on Mount Rainier, camped together in a single tent for warmth, and awoke the next morning to find one boy’s jeans frozen stiff.
“Our older, bigger leader had to crack it over his knee, and he ended up having two jeans after that,” recalled Troop 9519 Eagle Scout Michael Matagi, 18, a W.F. West senior, wrestling team captain, church leader and Running Start participant.
He described hiking down Mount St. Helens, veering right as they were told to do. “So we kept going to the right and ended up a few ridges over from the parking lot.”
Those were among memories shared by three Scouts during the annual Timberline District Friends of Scouting dinner at the Washington Hotel in Chehalis Thursday. Nationally, 2.4 million boys, assisted by nearly a million adults, participate in Boy Scouts of America, founded Feb. 8, 1910.
Michael’s 16-year-old brother, Eliu James “E.J.” Matagi, a W.F. West junior and Running Start participant, spoke of three 50-mile excursions, each completed in fewer than 20 hours — the Lewis County Historical Bike Ride three times, a Chehalis River kayak trip and an 18-hour-plus hike with his brother and mother that started at 3 a.m. near Tenino’s rock quarry.
Afterward, he said, “We all found it very difficult to get out of the car and climb the two steps — only two — … that no one really ever paid attention to in our garage. I will never forget carrying my mom up those stairs.”
With wet shoes and cold feet, he said, it wasn’t easy. “But it will always be my greatest memory that motivates me when I think I cannot do something.”
Both young men thanked their mother for shepherding them through Cub Scouts and their father for serving as their Boy Scout leader.
Webelo Zeke Zumwalt, of Rochester Pack 317, described camping, sleeping in a tent, listening to animals, and making s’mores as “super fun.”
“All of us can save our lives someday if we get separated or lost,” he said.
He likes earning badges for his hard work.
“When I earned my first badge, I was the most excited and proud as you can ever imagine anyone to be,” he said. “This excitement drew me deeper into Scouts.”
Boys learn more than play and preparation as they pledge the Boy Scout oath: “On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.”
Service projects help them practice characteristics in the Boy Scout Law, becoming “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.”
Michael Matagi won Eagle Scout Project of the Year by collecting 5,000 books to send to Samoa, where his grandparents serve a mission, but said he needed to practice kindness before earning his Eagle Scout award.
Other service projects include gathering groceries for local food banks, participating in National Days of Service, erecting a school building, painting park benches, pressure-washing sidewalks, and organizing a Veterans Day flag-raising ceremony for military veterans and serving them breakfast.
“I have grown up in many ways and learned life skills sometimes I didn’t know I had, and even got some new hobbies like rock climbing, biking and snowboarding,” E.J. said.
“I now know how to take care of others and their needs and some basic survival skills. … I am a better person because of Scouting.”
Keynote speaker Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer, a highly decorated Eagle Scout, described Scouts as leaders possessing a servant heart, mentality and attitude.
“A leader does the right thing for the right reasons, regardless of the circumstances,” he said.
“On a daily basis, make sure you give the world your best.”
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Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at memoirs@chaptersoflife.com.
