Boy Scouts and supporters spoke at a Friends of Scouting campaign breakfast Thursday in Shelbyville. Front row: Cub Scout Dayton Hasty, left, and Life Scout Bronson Friedman. Back row: breakfast co-chair Darin Hasty, left, Elk River District Executive Dale Turner, and Friends of Scouting campaign chairman Tommy Anderton. (T-G Photo by John Philleo) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Life Scout Bronson Friedman stood at the podium and told the audience he had been hoodwinked into joining the Boy Scouts.

"I was tricked," he said. "I was told I would have fun.

"I was really being trained to be a leader."

Friedman spoke at a Friends of Scouting breakfast held Thursday morning at Richard's Cafeteria in Shelbyville.

He explained that although he has had a lot of fun through his involvement with the Boy Scouts, the life and leadership skills he picked up along the way have come to mean more to him.

Friedman, a member of Troop 699 and a rising Eagle Scout, said he not only learned how to be a leader, he learned how to be a follower.

He compared the scout code to the principles taught by Jesus Christ, whom he described as the greatest leader of all time.

"It means that I can have fun and be honorable," he said in his summation of what scouting means to him.

The breakfast capped the Friends of Scouting fundraising campaign for the Elk River District, which includes Bedford County and is part of the Middle Tennessee Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

Elk River District Friends of Scouting Chairman Tommy Anderton, of Regions Bank in Shelbyville, organized and co-chaired the event.

"I was looking for an opportunity to give back to the community, and like Bronson, I got tricked," he joked while at the podium. Anderton challenged those in attendance to contribute to scouting.

"I'm pleased to announce we raised $16,585," he said after the pledge cards were tallied. The goal for the Bedford County campaign was $11,500.

At the end of 2007, Bedford County had six Cub Scout packs, 234 Cub Scouts, five Boy Scout troops and 81 Boy Scouts for a total of 315 scouts, according to Elk River District Executive Dale Turner.

A victory celebration for the Middle Tennessee Council fundraising campaign will be held tonight at LP Field in Nashville, Turner said.

Life Scout Bronson Friedman explains what scouting means to him at the Friends of Scouting breakfast. (T-G Photo by John Philleo) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

"Scouting, I think, is one of the greatest ventures a boy -- or girl -- can get into," he said. "Now, more than ever, there's a need for what scouting does for our communities."

The breakfast was co-chaired by Darin Hasty, of Bob Parks Realty in Shelbyville, who made it all the way to Eagle in his scouting days.

"Once an Eagle Scout, always an Eagle Scout," he said.

Hasty's son Dayton, of Cub Scout Pack 390, led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance to open the program.

For more information on scouting, call the Middle Tennessee Council at (800) 899-7268 or visit its Web site at www.mtcbsa.org.