By Gabrielle Terrett

The Vicksburg Post

“On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.”

These are the words that former Scoutmaster Mike Rasch lived by for 21 years and the same ones that molded 25 Eagle Scouts in his Boy Scout troop.

Through the duration of his life, the Tennessee native has been dedicated to the betterment of young men in his community who came through his Boy Scout troop and as a result he has formed lifelong relationships with them and taught lessons they can use forever.

“I do form lifelong connections with most of the young men who have been in my troop,” said Rasch. “Think about it, I’ve taken boys here in Mississippi to Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, South and North Carolina, Kentucky, Washington D.C. and you form bonds with people. I’ve had fun with them and I’ve enjoyed them.”

While becoming a Scoutmaster is a somewhat envied position, it came to Rasch as a second thought.

“I didn’t necessarily want the title of Scoutmaster,” he said. “My son joined Boy Scout Troop 111 here with a gentleman by the name of Bill Curtis. Mr. Curtis had been the temporary Scout Master for 25 years. The church needed a Scout Master and he said he’d do it temporarily.”

After 25 years, Curtis decided it was time to move on and passed the troop down to Steve Elward, who had travel issues with work and turned the troop over to Richard Vanderknacker. He was Scoutmaster for about a year, but had younger sons and wanted to become a Cub Master for Cub Scout Pack 104.

“So he turned it over to me and that was in 1997,” Rasch said. “Then my son graduated out of Boy Scouts in 2000 and went off to college and my wife told me I didn’t have to quit doing it. She said ‘It’s good for you and it’s good for the people.’ So I stayed with it until 2018.”

Creating leaders

In the two decades Rasch was scoutmaster of Troop 111, he watched the Boy Scouts blossom into more than a mediocre troop.

Most of his scouts are leaders in the community today.

“My favorite part about being a Scoutmaster was seeing young men mature from a little boy who can’t pay attention to a young man who is a leader,” Rasch said. “In fact, one of the young men is here in town running for office, Mario Grady.”

Becoming a part of the Boy Scouts of America, Rasch says, was one of his greatest accomplishments. He believes that it molded him into the man he is today. But it wasn’t easy.

“I tried to join when my friend did, but he was a year older than me and they told me I was too young,” Rasch said. “So I went home dejected and came back a few months later and asked ‘Can I join now?’ He said ‘You’re still too young.’ He told me to go over everything in the entry level Boy Scout book with an Eagle Scout and during the meeting the Eagle Scout came over, handed my book to my Scoutmaster and said ‘He’s a Boy Scout now.’”

Despite his struggles in earning acceptance into the organization he still became one of the most memorable Scoutmasters and he has made friends who will be around for the rest of his life.

“In this group you grow friendships that last a lifetime,” he said. “Mr. Elward, I’ve known him well over 25 years at least. When my better half passed away in March, I asked him to do her eulogy because he knew her as well as I did.

“The moment she passed away, he was the first person to knock on my door. The second was Richard Vanderknacker; the third person was Mario Grady.

“All of those were people I’d met through Boy Scouts.”

For each scout that he has mentored and helped to mold, Rasch has learned twice as many lessons but one sticks with him.

“Be respectful of others, but primarily be respectful of your mother,” he said. “She took the time to bring you into the world and it’s important.”