A Good Turn is a volunteered kind act of good deed. Scouts are encouraged to watch for things that need to be done, and then do them without being asked. It is very heart of the Boy Scout Movement and might even be called the motive power of the Movement, because it is so essential to the boy, to the organization, and to society in general. In fact, it is because of one particular Good Turn that the Boy Scouts of America came to be founded.
One day in 1909 in London, England, an American visitor, William D. Boyce, lost his way in a dense fog. He stopped under a street lamp and tried to figure out where he was. A boy approached him and asked if he could be of help.
“You certainly can,” said Boyce. He told the boy that he wanted to find a certain business office in the center of the city.
“I’ll take you there,” said the boy.
When they got to the destination, Mr. Boyce reached into his pocket for a tip. But the boy stopped him.
“No thank you, sir. I am a Scout. I won’t take anything for helping.”
“A Scout? And what might that be?” asked Boyce.
The boy told the American about himself and about his brother Scouts. Boyce became very interested. After finishing his errand, he had the boy take him to the British Scouting office. At the office, Boyce met Lord Robert Baden-Powell, the famous British general who had founded the Scouting movement in Great Britain. Boyce was so impressed with what he learned that he decided to bring Scouting home with him.
Boyce was assisted by officers of the YMCA in organizing a task force to help community organizations start and maintain a high-quality Scouting program. Those efforts resulted in the organization of the nation’s first Scout camp at Lake George, New York.
On February 8, 1910, The Boy Scouts of America was incorporated. From that day forth, Scouts have celebrated February 8, as the birthday of Scouting in the United States. In 1916, the BSA was granted Federal Charter by Act of Congress.
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