This week On The Avenue, we want to celebrate a member of our team. Joel Wilson, our resident video wizard, spends about as much time working with The Cub Scouts as he does here working with us. This past weekend Joel attended Latimer Reservation, one of Tennessee’s most beautiful outdoor destinations with more than 50,000 acres of public wilderness, to earn his certification to run a Boy Scouts of America Day camp.

Joel has been involved with the scouts for years, with two of his 3 sons, currently active Cubs. His eldest son Myles (11) is in his second year of Webelos and will be crossing over into Boy Scouts after receiving his Arrow of Light in April. His middle son Max (6) is currently a Lion, who is very excited to be continuing his Cub Scout journey as a Tiger in the fall.

This year working with the Scouts, Joel will be serving as “Youth Director,” primarily helping coordinate youth staff and helpers, training them in the ways of service mindedness, and making sure they follow all the rules. In his own words, he will also be “taking lots of pictures, singing lots of songs and helping facilitate our end of week campfire ceremony. I CAN. NOT. WAIT.”

He is also an active member of his council’s training committee. The team is responsible for educating parents and volunteers, sharing their experiences and helping each parent be the best they can be for their child and community. Twice a year the council encourages all of the volunteer leadership to attend “University of Scouting” in Brentwood, where this year Joel will be teaching campfire class. He will sing, and laugh, and sing some more.

Joel also serves as Assistant Pack Leader, and as co-Den Leader of Myles’ den. He will do the same for Max next year, when he will shift from the top to the bottom of the totem pole and start the entire process over (Cue Elton John’s “Circle of Life”).

Myles and Joel have been to Day camp (which he is now certified to lead) 3 years in a row. This will be Max’s first year participating, and Myles will be serving as a “Den Chief.” Joel’s weekend of training at The Latimer Reservation was just another step on his journey with his boys in the world of Scouting. He obviously had fun, sharing videos like this all weekend.

Joel shared a fond memory with me, telling me about his week at camp with Myles last year. He got a call asking him to shoot the Preds during their bid for the Stanley Cup (a pretty big deal if you recall), but without a second of hesitation he snapped a pic of himself and Myles out on the lake and sent it with the response, “Sorry dude, I’m busy.”

The following reply was one he said he’d never forget: “Jealous of your life my man.” THIS coming from a guy who owns a fleet of TV trucks and travels the world making his dreams come true every single day. In Joel’s words, “It meant a lot and I feel very blessed that my job gives me the flexibility and freedom to spend this kind of quality time with my boys. Scouts is such an important part of our lives as a family. Watching Myles grow into a young man, develop his character and learn how to live by the Scout Law is all I need to know that I’m making a positive difference in his life.”

So as you can see, The Boy Scouts has had a huge impact on Joel and his family, as well as some others in our office (Richmond is an awesome dad and an awesome Scoutmaster for his son Brooks’ Troop 92). The Boy Scouts of America is an AMAZING organization that teaches boys and dads alike that spending time with your loved ones, is not only a ton of fun, but also teaches you invaluable life lessons and strengthens bonds that will last a lifetime. THAT is something that Westwood and Woodard Brothers can get behind. So congrats to Joel for his this new step in his journey and shout out to all of the Boy Scouts out there!

Check out some pics of all of our awesome Scout dads below, and don’t forget to stop by again next week On The Avenue.

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