As the visitors walked through the greeting line Tuesday in the Kent ShoWare Center, Arthur Fujii stood at relaxed attention with fellow members of Troop 474.
Uniform pressed, and wearing the neckerchief his father had as a boy, Fujii was a model Boy Scout, quietly greeting each guest and handing them a program overviewing the afternoon’s activities.
And when the 300 or so guests had found their seats, Fujii and his troop members operated as color guard, slowly walking a scout flag and the Stars and Stripes to the front of the packed arena.
The event was Friends of Scouting Luncheon, a fundraiser now in its second year, to benefit the local Chief Seattle Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which administers Boy Scout activities across Western Washington, including the 2,500 or so active scouts in the Kent and Renton areas.
At all of 12, Fujii would seem to embody the potential of those boys.
The Seattle resident, along with brothers Alosha 11, and Albert, 13, has been a member of the Kent-based troop for several years, and doesn’t hesitate when asked what he likes about scouting.
“It makes us feel wanted and helpful and thankful – thankful that we’re here, and that this would help,” Fujii said, noting his troop does a lot of community-service work, such as volunteering at local food banks.
Then of course, there’s the adventure part of being a Boy Scout. Fujii’s troop master, Ken Brooten is an avid climber, taking the older scouts in the troop to climb Rainier and surrounding peaks each year.
“I’m hoping to climb in maybe two, three years,” Fujii said.
That excitement is something Gary Twite knows personally. The chairman of the Chief Seattle’s Green River District was at the ShoWare Center luncheon that day too, to acknowledge the public support to scouts in his district, which serves Kent, Renton, Skyway and Newcastle.
A Life Scout himself (one step below an Eagle Scout), Twite expressed his gratitude that the scouting program, thanks to the generosity of the public, was continuing to benefit generations of youth.
“We rely heavily on our friends of scouting,” he said. “We’ve been lucky to have a lot of important contributors.”
One of those contributors was State Attorney General Rob McKenna, an Eagle Scout himself, and the featured speaker at Tuesday’s event.
“There is no question this program is unparalleled in its ability to develop people with skills and leadership ability,” McKenna told his audience.
“I don’t know of any group who have that drive, that internal ambition to make the world around them better, than Scouts,” he said.
What keeps troop leader leading
Brooten, who has been a scout leader of Troop 474 since 1977, said it’s the life lessons he’s watched his scouts learn that motivates him.
The biggest life lesson? That sometimes life is hard and you go on anyway – even if you’re miserable on a rainy camping trip.
“For a lot of boys, it’s the realization that you have to suck it up and deal with it,” said Brooten, who has scaled Rainier with the scouts 39 times and led his share of backpacking trips in the rain. “For a lot of kids, they can argue, and make excuses. But here we are on a Saturday night and they have to deal with it (not being comfortable.)
“For some reason, kids today think if they get cold or hot, that something’s wrong,” he added. “I remind them it’s only been in the last 60 years that we’ve been able to control our (home) environment.”
That perseverance, he said, stays with these kids. And Brooten should know, as he’s now got scouts in his troop whose fathers were scouts with him.
“I know it makes a difference,” Brooten said, of learning to roll with the punches. “They’ve told me so as adults.”
Parent says it’s worth the drive
For Kristin Fujii, mom to Arthur, Albert and Alosha, scouting has been a family affair from the get-go. Her husband Paul Fujii is a former Boy Scout, and it goes back farther than that.
“They’re fourth-generation Scouts,” she said of her sons.
The regular drives from their Beacon Hill home to Brooten’s Scout meetings in Kent, she said, are worth it.
“We were willing to drive for the troop that fit them best,” she said.
Kristin Fujii said she’d seen development in her boys on a number of fronts.
“Boy Scouting has allowed them to go from family car camping to backcountry overnight hiking,” she said. “That would be one of the biggest changes: from being fair-weather campers to all-weather campers.”
She’s also proud of her boys for another reason: the first-aid training they’ve received through the Scouts, and subsequently put to use.
“My kids have been involved in first aid more than their share; they’ve done all that,” she said.
As a result, they’ve been able to assist in multiple medical emergencies at their church and their home.
“They have been on the scene of a stroke, heart attack and anaphylactic shock,” Kristin Fujii said, noting her father experienced the shock, a church member dealt with stroke, and the heart attack involved their neighbor.
“I’m just plain proud of them that they’ve held their own,” she said.
Learn more
Chief Seattle District: www.seattlebsa.org
Boy Scouts of America: www.scouting.org
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