During a recent call with the Regional RoadRally Development Committee (RRDC), it was suggested that we contact the Boy Scouts of America. I laughed out loud, shaking my head, and uttered that old adage I learned in High School over 40 years ago: “There is nothing new under the sun.” I was surprised the gents on the call were unaware of this SCCA Road Rally history.
A phrase adapted from the Book of Ecclesiastes 1:9-10, has become quite a part of our culture, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be, and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” There are some who later attributed it to Shakespeare, yet it appears the Bible came first.
I learned of it when trying to reach youngsters to rally when I served on the SCCA Road Rally Board. From sharing my plan with an SCCA National Board Chairman who was intriqued, I have not given up on re-engaging youth in our sport. If you recall these Boy Scout rallies across America, or perhaps you competed in one, please contact us at RReNews. We will post this story on the Road Rally eNews Facebook page and update those conversations here.
From Boy’s Life, this from January 1972 —
“The route was complicated-and unfamiliar. It covered 150 miles of city roads, country roads; and it required six hours of demanding driving. And when the scores of the 97 Explorers from 26 states competing in 1971’s Grand National Safe-Driving Road Rally finals in Detroit were all in and tallied, a team of three Explorers from Milwaukee was the winner.
For finishing in first place, Robert W. Courtney, Michael R. Murr, and Timothy K. Kratz each received a $1,500 college scholarship and a Mercury car to drive for one year. To the second-place team- -Chuck Edmundson, Fernando Silva, and Ken Foster, all of Miami went scholarships of $750 apiece. The rally climaxed a four-day, all-expenses-paid visit to Detroit for all the finalists in the national rally competition, which was sponsored by the Lincoln-Mercury Division of the Ford Motor Company and the Exploring Division BSA.”
Wow! When I read this years ago, I was stunned by Detroit’s investment in travel expenses and scholarships, and each first-place team member received a car for one year! We are looking for team members interested in getting youth involved in our sport; are you one of them?
