What Matters Most….Commentary by Jim High
Actually this column is about two lives, the wonderful life of Paul Eason, and the wonderful life given to me and thousands of others by Scoutmaster Paul Eason. This month he will celebrate his 90th birthday. I first met Paul 60 years ago when I was eleven years old in Boy Scout Troop 12 sponsored by the First Methodist Church. Back then Paul seemed old to me, but he was only 30. The troop met in some left over space on the second floor behind the organ. Paul had already started the monthly campout program that continues to this day. Once a month in rain, snow, heat or extreme cold Troop 12 was going camping. I remember in those days we would walk up North Madison Street, which was mostly gravel beyond Highland Circle and camp out at Livingston Lake, just across Green Street in those wooded hills and hollows. We went other places also like Shiloh National Battlefield, Camp Yocona, Ruff’s Farm, and every May after school was out we would take a special trip usually to the beach in Florida and stay at some military base.
Paul’s record of monthly campouts without a miss is nationally recognized as the longest in all of Scouting. And he literally helped hundreds of boys who got their Eagle Award only because of his efforts. That is certainly true in my case. Being a fat kid Personal Fitness merit badge was going to be a big hurdle for me when it came to the mile run, and even when I entered Tupelo High School I was not yet an Eagle Scout. But Paul worked with me at Robins Field every afternoon for at least a month until I passed that final requirement and became an Eagle Scout.
Paul worked with every boy in some special way. He always seemed to know just what any of us needed. And we did fun unusual things, too. Not many boy scouts get Bird Study merit badge, but Paul took a group of us every Sunday morning at dawn for an hour or two before Sunday school for nearly a year, and we would go all over Lee County looking for different birds until we had found and identified the 50 birds required.
After college I returned to Tupelo and to Troop 12 working side by side with Paul Eason as his Assistant Scoutmaster for 19 years. That’s 228 more monthly campouts and I made most of them. Several years ago we had a big reunion campout at Camp Yocona on the occasion of Troop 12’s 500th Monthly Campout. The record continues and totals almost 800 now. Maybe I’ll live go on the 1,000th campout, which will be really something.
After many years of going to Camp Yocona for a week each summer, Paul and I decided to take the troop to Pickwick Lake for several years for a week’s campout instead. I had the job of quartermaster and went to Piggly Wiggly in Iuka each morning during the week to buy the groceries to feed 50 hungry boys three meals, which they had to cook for themselves. The folks at the Piggly Wiggly in Iuka still remember me all these years later. I guess they are hoping I’ll show up with three helpers and buy nine or ten baskets of food every day for a week. We had a grand time and the boys passed many of their merit badges, plus all of them spent time skiing behind several ski boats that we had at our disposal during the week.
I could tell a thousand more stories, but must include a word about our annual campouts at Tishomingo State Park where we would build a Monkey Bridge across Bear Creek. This was a rope bridge that allowed us to cross the creek by walking on the rope without getting wet, unless of course you fell in. That bridge and the twenty foot tall lookout towers that we sometimes built by lashing logs together always gave every boy a real sense of accomplishment.
What Matters Most……….If a person has any true understanding of life they got it from someone. We got it from Paul Eason, and we learned from him to pass it on. There are so many people out there who want guidance and who cannot get it. If you can make a difference for at least one person, then you have tremendous merit indeed. Paul Eason’ wonderful life made a difference in the lives of thousands. Happy Birthday, Paul!
© 2011 #22 Jim High can be reached at P. O. Box 467, Tupelo, MS 38802-0467
Paul Eason sounds like a truly remarkable person, bringing enrichment to the community and to so many lives!
ReplyDeleteI always thought Paul Eason was one of the most handsome men in Tupelo. He as my mother's boss for a number of years. Was he at Milam Mfg. Co? or would it have been at Peoples Bank?
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