The Magic of Mr. Amon

Written By: Ritika Putta

“At the end of Royaneh, Tessa Clevinger said to me ‘This troop is special - not ‘special for a girl troop’ but special for any troop.’” Mr. Amon is the first and current Scoutmaster of Troop 220. When he signed up to lead our founding members, he had no idea he was in for a wild ride.

Mr. Amon wasn’t always the man we recognize him as today. He spent several years doing lighting for plays, fashion shows, and rock concerts after pursuing theatrical design for his college major. He also traveled with a band and did spotlight for many performances until he decided to settle down and apply Scouting values he learned from Cub Scouting and Scouting to his life.

Like the majority of other Scouts, Mr. Amon entered the world of Scouting through Cub Scouts: “All I remember was my mom bringing me to a cub scout meeting, and her becoming the den mother.” When asked if he was interested in joining, he showed no sign of hesitation as he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his brother who was in Scouting at the time. At the time, he did not know what to make of Scouting but ended up thoroughly enjoying Cub Scouting as he made many unforgettable experiences and friends.

The journeys Mr. Amon has had as an adult and as a youth through Scouting are like oil and water; there is no overlap.

As a youth, Mr. Amon enjoyed the outdoor aspects of Scouting: “As a youth, I really loved many of the outdoor aspects of scouting. I have some really fond memories of the few backpack trips we did as youth, and I loved building fires and just about all parts of the outdoor program.” However, it was not an easy time for Scouts and families. During the late ’60s and early ’70s, it was a time of racial riots and public chaos with American soldiers fighting in the raging Vietnam War. Scouting was seen as a militant program for youth, not a program that allows Scouts to grow and enjoy the wonders of Mother Nature. The future seemed as unstable as the waves of the sea.

Leading the troop as SPL was a very difficult experience as Mr. Amon did not have much guidance. His father was the Scoutmaster and tried his best but they both still struggled to lead the troop during such a dark time. Troops were built very differently at the time. BSA troops now can be seen as towering skyscrapers with structure and stability while troops back then were more like small restaurants, trying to expand. As a Scout, Mr. Amon and his fellow scouts never had a PLC. After a couple of years, Mr. Amon began pursuing other activities that led him away from Scouting.

A few decades later, Mr. Amon’s son brought him back into the world of Scouting the same way he joined: Cub Scouting. Mr. Amon became a Den Leader and guided a group of scouts through AOL and joined Troop 273 together. The previous scoutmaster of Troop 273 decided that Mr. Amon was the best fit for the next Scoutmaster, and he agreed as he could tell that “the program had changed since I was a youth, and I felt the changes were all positive. I also found that I had the opportunity to have an impact on the program and on the scouts that worked with.” Mr. Amon’s biggest regret in Scouting was not attending Philmont as a youth; however, Troop 273 gave him this opportunity: “After 50 years of harboring jealousy that my brother got to do something I didn’t, I had the opportunity to lead the scouts that I had known since they were 8 years old on their biggest scouting adventure.”

When offered the opportunity to become Scoutmaster of Troop 220, Mr. Amon could not pass it up: “I have, for a long time felt that the BSA should be a fully inclusive organization. That any youth that wants to become a Scout should be able to, and that there was no justifiable reason to exclude girls. I was given the opportunity to put my beliefs into action.” However, the troop didn’t just pop up out of nowhere like Whack-A-Mole. At first, we tried to find another boy troop that we could link up with but unfortunately, it didn’t work out. We have gone a long way from a small group Venturing Scouts. When asked how to describe our troop, Mr. Amon replied, “Wonderful, awesome, terrific, fun. Seriously this troop has many of the best Scouts I have ever known.”

Ultimately, Scouting has changed Mr. Amon’s life for the better, helping him learn valuable life skills that have helped so many people, and we call that magic. The magic of Mr. Amon.