Letter to the Editor

Danny Joe remembered for service to Scouting

Saturday, August 25, 2012

To the editor:

I just attended the funeral service for Danny Joe McHaffey at Cobb Funeral Home. The service was very touching, but something was left out. Danny Joe was a Scoutmaster for many years when I also occupied that position with Troop 104.

First, I would like to impress with your readers that Danny Joe had an enormous impact on the boys that he led in his troop. He made them repeat the "Scout Law" every time they met, which goes: "A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent."

If a young man repeats these characteristics hundreds of times, like I did, they become standards for behavior in all of his adult life. They did for me. Just think about the impact that Danny Joe has delivered to his community in this effort.

I knew Danny Joe for the five-plus years that I was an assistant Scoutmaster for Bob Gardner and Jimmy Edwards, followed by 20 years as Scoutmaster of Troop 104. We used to have cups of coffee when camping and we would watch the boys playing games or performing Scout activities. We would have a great time just passing the time talking about things, not always about Scout things, but we did enjoy these sessions.

I'm going to miss "Donnie Jay" (I reconstructed his name for our coffee sessions).

Tom Holmes
Blytheville