When I started as a Boy Scout leader, many years ago, my hobby became woodcarving.

I encouraged my Scouts to try carving by wearing the tie slides I had made when I was a Scout. One night a boy said, "Sure you could do that when you were our age, but I'll bet you can't do it now."

Maybe he was right. I hadn't carved anything since I was 15. I had just made one of the basic mistakes of trying to teach any skill. I had showed them the end result but not how to get there.

At the next Scout meeting I had a new tie slide showing a space shuttle launch. I also had several blocks of wood in various stages of carving. From then on, whenever I was outdoors with the Scouts, I would carve little tie slides and gave a lot of them away. I would like to say that every boy in my troop became expert carvers. But really, I don't think any of them ever tried to learn.

Over the years I taught woodcarving at all sorts of Scout outings. I remember an endless stream of small boys with dull knives and clumsy hands who expected me to show them how to carve something beyond their ability.

I don't remember very many carvings because my main goal was to keep them from cutting their fingers off. I told them that the first rule of woodcarving was to count their fingers before they started and after they finished. I would let them start working with their own dull knives.

Then, one by one, I'd let them try mine. The initial rush to carve something slowly became a class in knife sharpening.

There would always be a boy who tried to do his carving in his lap. He'd be pushing down on the wood with his knife in both hands. "Whoa! You! Kid! Stop! Do you want to go to Girl Scout Camp next year? Get that knife out of your lap before you damage an important part of your anatomy!"

This always brought giggles from the other boys and several knives moved to a safer area. There were lots of cut fingers, but luckily, nothing more serious.

Boys would bring me their block of wood and ask how to carve an Indian head. I would draw a face on the wood. Then I'd tell them to cut away everything that didn't look like an Indian. They thought I was teasing, but if you can't see what you're carving in the wood how do you know when you're done? This is an exercise in patience. Small mistakes are easier to repair than big ones. It all else fails, there is wood glue.

Since you are working side-by-side on a slow project it is easy to slip into a conversation that brings out Scouting values: trustworthy, loyal, helpful and many others.

It is said that years from now, a boy will have difficulty remembering his grade school teacher's name but will never forget his Scoutmaster. Some of these boys shared problems that they couldn't tell to anyone else and I hope my answers helped them. There is no way to know when a few words may change the life of a boy. It is a rare thing to get to see that change.

I spent my vacations teaching woodcarving at Camp Melakwa near the Three Sisters. One day I met a new Scoutmaster who was there for a visit. He told me that the year before when his son, Jared, left to be on camp staff at Melakwa, he was on the edge of becoming either a solid citizen or a criminal. He said he didn't know what to do to help his son.

When Jared returned from camp that year his whole attitude had changed for the better. The Scoutmaster had come to Melakwa this year to find out why. I laughed and introduced him to my brother-in-law, Mike.

Jared and Mike had worked together the year before. I don't know what was said but I do know Mike's tremendous ability to communicate with boys on their own level. He listened to what Jared had to say and sometimes that's all you have to do.

The father had joined Scouting because of the changes in his son. Over the next few years he helped his sons and other young men in his troop to become Eagle Scouts. Mike would have no way of knowing that by listening to Jared he was helping boys he would never meet.

After several summers on camp staff Jared came to the tent Mike and I shared and said, "Hey fellas, can I talk to you?"

He was going to get married when he went home and he wanted our advice. At that time Mike and I were married to sisters so we told him all we knew. I have since met his wife and I hope they are able to hold on to each other for the next 50 years. It's like woodcarving, all it takes is time and patience.

As he was leaving he tossed me a small wooden whistle and a face scratched on it.

"Hey Ron, what do you think of my carving?"

"This is pretty pitiful Jared. I know you can do better."

"That's funny Ron, 'cause when I was 8 years old at Cub Scout day camp you told me this was the best job of carving you'd seen all day. I was so proud of it that I've kept it ever since."

"Oh ... I was set up."

Jared left laughing.

Do you suppose, that just maybe, Mike and I both touched the life of this man/child?