Lunch with: Bruce Bumstead

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/02/2012 (4961 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

So this interview is about Scouting, but I have to ask — what is it about photography that moves you?

Photography has always been a passion of mine that kind of stemmed from my drawing background. And it’s something I’ve been blessed to do well.

I think the main reason I do the job that I do is the people I meet. It’s not so much the photography end of it. For me, photography is just a tool to do journalism — telling stories through pictures.

To the topic at hand, now: It’s not the Boy Scouts anymore, is it?

Scouts Canada has been co-ed since the early 1990s. It starts at the Beaver Scout level — ages five through seven — then the Cub Scout, which was formerly known as Wolf Cubs, which is ages eight through 10, then the Scout level, which is 11 to 14, and Venturers 14 to 17. If they’re keen, there’s another level after that, which is Rovers, and it is 18 to 26.

You were a Scout when you were a boy, and obviously you enjoyed it. What was it that spoke to you? What did you like about it?

I got a lot out of the Scouting movement. I believe that it’s truly helped shape my character, my values. Without that, I don’t know what kind of person I would be. The principles of helping others, trustworthiness, honesty, caring — these are all values that were instilled in me as a Beaver, Cub, and Scout, right through to Venturers.

Your family’s been actively involved, too, haven’t they?

My father was a Scout leader. He was a Scout when he was younger. He was a Wolf Cub. And my son, Matthew, went through the Cub program, and spent a year-and-a-half in Scouts, but decided that he wanted to join his friends in Air Cadets, which I totally support. It’s another great organization.

I think any organization that helps develop leadership, which is a main focus of Scouting — developing leadership and self-reliance and self-thought as well as thought of others — you can’t go wrong being in a program like that.

Scouting used to focus a lot on the outdoors. Does it still?

The outdoors is a big part of Scouting. In fact, there’ve been slogan campaigns to put the ‘out’ back into ‘Scout.’

Scouting was really started by a group of boys who decided that they wanted to experience some of the stories and the tales they found in Baden Powell’s books on Scouting, and they wanted to be outside. So they started the organization.

Is Scouting fading from popularity, do you think? Do you have trouble getting and keeping members? Are kids distracted by the creature comforts of indoors, or technology?

There’s a lot of things to compete with out there. Scouting in Canada has steadily been declining in terms of membership. It’s something that I’d like to see turn around — that’s what’s prompted me to move into this role as an Area Commissioner, to promote recruitment not just of youth, but of volunteers — leaders. Because this is all volunteer work. If Scouting groups provide quality programs, youth will be engaged, and then retention and recruitment of youth isn’t a problem. But it’s having those leaders in place to provide the programming that is the challenge.

Can you attribute the falloff of interest to anything?

Society’s changed. There’s just a different tone out there. The principles behind Scouting are duty to self, duty to others, and duty to God. From my own observations, I think there’s a lot of duty to self out there, and not so much of the other. I don’t think it’s so much a decline in the quality of program — I think there’s a decline in society. And you see that when you go out to public places.

Because people aren’t respectful any more, they’re not as considerate as they could be, they’re looking out for number one?

Yes. And Scouting helps teach those fundamentals of respect for your fellow man, respect for nature, duty to others. Do a good turn for someone every day — that’s one of the most important parts of the Cub Scout promise. And that’s part of the Scout slogan as well, is to do a good turn daily.

And the one thing about Baden Powell is, I don’t think he ever grew up. He became a man, but he could relate to youth. And that’s basically what the program is looking for — adults who can relate to youth, and treat youth with respect.

So you believe in all these things, and that’s why you became Area Commissioner? That’s a pretty big commitment in terms of volunteer hours.

There was a need. And as I said, that’s one of the values I’ve learned through my youth as a Scout, was if there’s a need, then you fill it — you step up, and you do it. We had a need for an Area Commissioner — there’s a need for the recruitment of new and younger volunteers for leadership roles — and that’s something I would like to see move forward. And you can either sit back and complain about it, or you can act upon it. And that’s primarily the reason I’ve stepped forward into this role.

What sort of activities to the Scout groups do now? Do you still collect badges?

There have been changes in badges. And because Scouting is a youth-based organization, those changes have happened with the input of the youth. So there are new badges that match the times. Science and technology badges weren’t around when I was a youth. But the core structures still revolve around areas that are traditional in Scouting — the outdoors, camping skills, survival skills, nature skills. But there’s also civic knowledge, citizenship and leadership skills. Those have always been the base learning areas.

And any leader who’s involved in Scouting really doesn’t think of themselves as a babysitter. We’re instructors. We lead by example. In fact, that’s a quote of Baden Powell’s that I refer to quite often: ‘There’s no teaching to compare with example.’ It’s one of the best quotes I think I’ve ever read, and it’s true. You can’t teach youth if you’re not leading by example. And that just doesn’t happen on your meeting nights. That is a 24/7 requirement.

Do you think you’ll be involved in Scouting for years to come?

Yes I do. Scouting has shaped and moulded my life in a very positive way. In fact, it even led me to my career, because my very first experience with photography was with my Scout leader. He showed us how to develop and make prints in his own darkroom. I would never have known to pick up a camera if it hadn’t been for my Scout leader.

However, I got back involved with Scouting because I felt I needed to give something back to the organization. But I think I’ll remain in the Scouting movement because I enjoy it. There is a great fulfilment when I run into youth that have been through the program, or with other groups that I’ve met at various camps, and they remember who you are and they’re excited to see you. It makes you feel good. It makes you feel that you’ve impacted somebody’s life in a positive way.