Wally Emon

WALTER EDWARD EMON

June 26, 1926 – April 25, 2002

Comes the last day of many days,

The last campfire of all too few,

Last – but not lost, in the years ahead

These times our memories shall renew

Brother and Sister Scouts – the Camp Fire is Open

At today’s campfire, we shall dispense with the usual skits and songs and go directly to the yarns. As is the custom, please observe complete silence and no applause please.

That never seems to be a problem at funerals for some reason.

I’m proud to have been asked to say a few words today about Wally Emon, a fellow Scouter and a friend.

Apart from telling you that Wally was born in 1926 in Almont, Ontario, a small town in the Ottawa Valley, was married for nearly 49 years to Norma (a.k.a. “BOOTS”), had three children – Brian, Grant and Rusty – ooops Sharon and 7 grandchildren, I’m going to leave the family side of things for Grant.

It appears that Wally was not involved in the Scouting movement as a child. His involvement started in 1965 when his oldest son, Brian was in Cubs. One of the Pack’s leaders was Manfred Kretchner who convinced Wally that he should be a leader in the pack – after all, his son was there and it was only an hour a week! Wally joined and was invested in 3^rd Bramalea by Charlie Norman, who, by the way, is still active at 2^nd Bramalea in the Cub Pack, 40 years on. Wally’s sons Brian and Grant both were in the movement as Cubs and Scouts. Over the next two years, Wally also served as Akela and a Troop Scouter with 3^rd Bramalea (obviously before the time of 1 role per person).

I’m not sure why but Wally decided or, more likely, was coerced, into joining the Executive in 1967, Canada’s Centennial year. He became the District Commissioner of the newly created North Peel District, a position he held until 1970. These were my first three years in high school. He was on the organizing committee for the first Scouts Centennial Ontario Pennsylvania Exchange (SCOPE). This is an enduring exchange between Scouts in southern Ontario and those in the Valley Forge Council near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In 1971 he completed his Wood Badge training in Pack and was welcomed to the Brampton Gilwell Patrol. The following little piece captures the essence of what the Wood Badge training meant to Wally:

Two Tiny Little Beads

Two tiny wooden beads on a leather thong doesn’t sound like an outstanding badge or mark of distinction, but it is known and respected as such around the globe. It is symbolic of the efforts and interest of one man on behalf of others that created and launched the greatest movement for boys the world has ever known.

It is the mark of men who have demonstrated that they are men of character and who are devoted to a cause; men who strive for perfection well knowing that even the best is not enough; men who hold the welfare of others before self; Scouters who live up to all that name implies. Awarded to a Scouter on the basis of what he thinks and is, more than on what he knows. He must demonstrate that he has “know how” too. Good intentions count for little until, by the application of ability and determination, they produce results that count. Striving for perfection in themselves that they might train others better, to this end, exists Wood Badge.

Wally earned the Wood Badge and wore it with pride for more than 30 years.

In 1972, he served as President of the North Peel District. Throughout the remainder of the 1970’s and most of the1980’s he served North Peel and subsequently Brampton District on the Executive. During this time he was an ADC for Training, an ADC for Scouts and, for many years, a Vice President on the District Executive.

When I joined Scouting in 1981, with the same patently false promise of “only one hour per week”, Wally was a Vice President. As an adult, I’d never been involved in Scouting but I was a youth member for several years. Unlike Wally, I didn’t spend any time in a group; I joined the Executive as a Vice President. Our contemporaries were Richard Giel, Roger Williams and John Edwards. I was impressed by the professional manner in which the executive was run – the meetings were fun and sometimes long but things got done.

Wally was the wise “Old Wolf”. After I’d experienced a few meetings, whenever I thought of Wally, I was reminded of the Cub Law:

The Cub gives in to the Old Wolf

The Cub does not give in to himself.

Its been changed now to be more politically correct but the essence is there – give credence to the counsel of your elders, but stay true to your beliefs.

Wally epitomized this law. At many meetings, Wally exhibited his renowned strength of will (a.k.a. stubbornness) usually preceded or accompanied by typical gestures or poses familiar to all who knew him. Some of these are captured on film and are on display here today. But his stubbornness was born of a desire to learn from our history and mistakes and to move forward. The Executive listened to him and respected his perspective on all issues.

An example of this was the huge discussion we had around the rental of Scout House to outside groups. For years, Scout House had been rented for a variety of uses to outside groups. One group in particular left the place is a mess, a very bad mess. It had been a party attended by mostly males in advance of a wedding, sometimes referred to as a stag.

Bill Copeland was livid at the damage and the garbage and rightly so. The Executive made what I considered a no-brainer resolution to ban these parties from the building. Ah – but the wording of the resolution had to be right, non-sexist and lawyer-proof. After much deliberation, led by Wally, we agreed that we would no longer rent our facility for PRENUPTUAL FESTIVITIES and so it remains today (although now National Council has finally agreed with our decision and taken it one step further by banning alcohol at Scout buildings across the country).

In 1980 a group of Scouts from Banchory Scotland came to Ontario to camp at the Haliburton Scout Camp. Home hospitality was arranged in Brampton for a brief while after the ten days at Haliburton. Wally agreed to billet someone from this group while there were here in Brampton. Thinking he was likely going to be billeting a youth, Wally was surprised when his billet was a crusty old leader named Graeme Wilson (a.k.a. Boson). The Scouts Canada Overseas Trek (SCOT) resulted from this first meeting. Wally never went to Scotland with the SCOT exchange but his time with Boson cemented a lasting friendship between the two. Boots and Wally travelled and holidayed with Graeme and Kathleen numerous times and even went to Scotland twice to visit. The trip in 1993 coincided with Wally and Boot’s 40^th wedding anniversary. Gary Mitchell will read a letter from Boson in a few minutes.

His wisdom and experience served Scouting in Brampton District well for many years. He served on a committee that revised the District’s by-laws in 1983 or 84 where his knowledge of history in the District was essential in drafting the rules that governed us. Many of these by-laws are still in place today.

During the last half of the 1980’s and into the 90’s, Wally’s health began affecting his ability to be as involved as he once was. But despite his health, Scouting was a passion for Wally and he could not stay away for long.

Wally was a great supporter of the Brampton Gilwell Patrol, being the treasurer or the registrar, attending organizing meetings during the year and of course, the Gilwell weekend (when he could) in September at Blue Springs, a favourite haunt of his. He was very proud of being a member of Gilwell and was passionate about the whole process.

He was also a big supporter of the 16^th Canadian BP Guild. The Guild is an organisation for retired Scouters and as such Wally never really qualified for membership, but nevertheless, Wally assisted in any way he could whether it was a Scouts Own at a camp they organised or assisting with the logistics of a Venturee. Guild member Rob Stokes tells a story about a Venturee in about 1985 that the Guild ran. There were many events arranged at many different locations although the H.Q. was at the Orangeville Conservation Area. Moving all the Venturers from one site to another in time to get them to the activities was a logistical nightmare and the Guild members spent many agonizing hours trying to figure it out. Enter Wally and his organisational skills probably acquired through his University training as an engineer or his 39-year career at Westinghouse. He threw in with abandon and stayed up until the wee hours of the morning with a large chart tracking the flow of events and people and finally devised a schedule to get everyone where they had to be on time. An amazing feat under normal circumstances made even more amazing because Wally was suffering from a bad back, injured during his football days at the U. of T. and something that stayed with him for the rest of his life. A real life example of the 8^th Scout Law: A Scout smiles and whistles under all difficulties

On another occasion, Wally was helping with a composite camp being held at Everton Scout Camp near Blue Springs. The theme of the camp was the Gold Rush. Wally’s role, among other things, was to read a proclamation from Her Majesty the Queen allowing panning for gold in the Eramosa River. Generally, Wally was not one for being in the spotlight, he preferred to work in the background but on this occasion, he pulled out all the stops. He waded into the river and gathered everyone in camp around. He read the proclamation in typical “Town Crier” fashion and had the kids in awe. When he finished reading the text and invited the kids to start panning for gold, they all rushed into the river, creating a huge spray of water and eagerly began sifting for chunks of “gold” that had been carefully planted there. The lucky ones took their finds to an assay office and turned them in for candy and other treasures.

In 1997, Wally’s daughter Rusty – I mean Sharon – joined the movement as a Beaver leader at 2^nd Bramalea. She had actually wanted to join the Rover Crew I was the leader of in the mid-80’s but Wally wouldn’t let her. I think it had something to do with me or the other Crew members or the activities we engaged in, but I’m not sure.

She is carrying on the family tradition of quality leadership through her work in the Colony. Both Gary Mitchell’s and my granddaughter go to 2^nd Bramalea and have benefited from Rusty’s capable leadership. The traditions she instils in her young charges have been passed down from her father. As we all know, traditions are difficult to retain from one generation to another and it’s my hope that Ben, Jocelyn and Ian will carry on these traditions when its their turn.

Wally continued helping out in the District by assisting with Iceberg, Brampton’s winter camp for Scouts. For the past several years, this camp has been held at Blue Springs Scout Reserve, one of Wally’s favourite places. Wally helped with registration, planning activities, scheduling and tried to camp over when his health would allow him. Even while doing this, Wally was unselfishly sharing his wealth of knowledge with the other members of the team.

In February this year, Wally’s health took another turn for the worse when he was advised he had cancer. Always pragmatic, Wally was insistent on organizing, as much as he could, his own funeral. On April 7, while in the palliative care unit at the William Osler Health Centre, Wally was presented with the Medal of Merit, recognizing more than 35 years of outstanding service to Scouting. On April 25, he succumbed to that awful disease after a blessedly short battle. We are here today to remember him – his wit, his sense of duty, his commitment to service and yes – his strength of will (a.k.a. stubbornness).

I’d like to conclude by reading a part of a poem that most of you in Scouting will be a little familiar with. It appears at the bottom of the Wood Badge parchment awarded for the successful completion of Wood Badge Training. The passage comes from Rudyard Kipling’s 1897 poem entitled The Feet of the Young Men. Kipling was a contemporary of BP and his work is strongly reflected in the original Scouting program. The poem is actually 8 stanzas long with a refrain after each but the passage we are most familiar with is about half of one of those stanzas and has come to have great meaning to those who have taken the Wood Badge training:

Who hath smelt smelt-smoke at twilight? Who hath heard the birch-log burning?

Who is quick to read the noises of the night?

Let him follow with the others for the Young Men's feet are turning

To the camps of proved desire and known delight!

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Last Modified: Friday, October 06, 2006 08:46 AM