Father, son, grandson, all named John Wilson Stauffer, talk about their experiences with Scouting
OCEAN CITY — Most people know John Wilson Stauffer from owning Johnson’s Popcorn, that popular treat on the Ocean City boardwalk. They may not know that he is an Eagle Scout or the first of three generations in his family — all named John Wilson Stauffer — to earn the highest rank in Scouting.
He became an Eagle Scout in 1959.
His son, John Wilson Stauffer Jr., became an Eagle Scout in 1993.
And on Saturday, Oct. 24, the family celebrated John Wilson Stauffer III, known as Wilson, earning that rank.
There is a theme of determination that runs in that family, along with a bit of light-hearted motivation to achieve a rank only about 5 percent of Scouts attain.
The eldest Stauffer said his father was instrumental in motivating him.
“It just took time and perseverance,” he said. “If you get to Eagle Scout, you need perseverance because there are a lot of hoops to go through, like the merit badges,” and climbing the ranks from Scout to Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, Life and then Eagle Scout.
“I think that the most important thing I’ve learned was that if you want to achieve something, you just have to keep at it,” he said. Stauffer, in addition to his boardwalk business, was a schoolteacher for 32 years, 25 at Ocean City Intermediate School. To emphasize his message about what life requires, he had a bulletin board in his classroom featuring the Peanuts character Snoopy. It said genius is 95 percent hard work.
Hard work is fitting for the eldest Stauffer, whose first job in Ocean City was pedaling ice cream carts in the latter 1950s. He worked his way through the long-pedaling routes up to what he considered his best route — sitting at the Surf Road beach.
It turned out to be the best for another reason. When his future wife walked by, he had a way to introduce himself. He offered her an ice cream.
Flash forward past business ventures and teaching in Venezuela with his wife for a few years and John Wilson Stauffer Jr. was born when they lived around 34th Street.
As the junior Stauffer grew up, his father encouraged him to get into Scouting. A little bit of bribery came into play to stick with it because there are so many other activities and distractions for a young man.
“I definitely started in Cub Scouts,” he said. “I saw value in being a Scout because of the motto; you try to do good and to help people. That’s what God wants us to do, to be kind and help people.”
“Eventually,” he said, “and I think this is true for a lot of Scouts, once they start to get older, roughly when you hit high school, it becomes less interesting,” he said, “but that’s also when you’ve got to just keep going if you want to get Eagle Scout.”
His dad, the Eagle Scout, gave him a financial incentive to keep working toward that highest of ranks. Something similar happened for the next generation, John Wilson Stauffer III.
“He was more creative with the bribe,” Wilson said, laughing. “He said we would go to the Dallas-Eagles football game (Oct. 26), but if I didn’t have my Eagle Scout in time, my sister would be going to the game instead.”
Wilson made the rank and got to cheer for his Eagles.
Eagle Scout projects
The eldest Stauffer did not have to do a project to become an Eagle Scout. Scouting added that requirement after he made that rank, but the other work required is still evident; he saved his Boy Scout uniform, complete with the sash bearing the 21 merit badges he earned and his patch from the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico.
As John Wilson Stauffer Jr. worked his way toward the top rank, the family lived at 19th Street and Wesley Avenue. The elder Stauffer recalled that in the 1990s, before then-Congressman Bill Hughes got the initial beach replenishment for the resort, people could sit under the boardwalk at 17th Street.
“You could ride your boogie board underneath the boardwalk,” his son added.
The replenishment came and dunes were created, fencing was added and the city planted grass to preserve the dunes. The city also made signs to tell people not to walk on the dunes.
“We actually had a decent-sized troop and the time,” the middle Stauffer added.
For his Eagle Project, he did the preparation work to plot out where the signs would be needed, formed groups of Scouts, dropped off the signs on the various blocks and the Scouts put up the signs.
Wilson, a senior at Ocean City High School and a record-setting member of the Red Raider swim team, had a different Eagle Scout project.
He built birdhouses for the Ocean City Environmental Commission for three community gardens — at the Bayside Center, The Shores at Wesley Manor and at the Ocean City Tabernacle.
The birdhouses are for house wren, North American bluebird and tree swallow, all recommended, he said, by the Audubon Society.
What they got
from Scouting
“Philmont was probably the highlight of my Scouting experience,” the elder Stauffer said. “And it was an experience. It was crazy.” In Cimarron, N.M., the Philmont Scout Ranch is described as “a legendary destination where Scouting, adventure and the spirit of Wild West come to life.”
His son made a lifelong friend, fellow Eagle Scout Dan Baker. He said he also made a lot of memories, though he concedes not all the Scouting trips provided “great memories,” but they were certainly unique.
“We did things like cave exploring and rappelling, backpacking where you were hiking with your tent. Our final trip just after I graduated high school was a 50-mile canoe trip in the Adirondacks,” he said.
During one of those unique experiences, which one might describe as character building, the middle Stauffer went on a camping trip to Valley Forge that he said made the Scouts feel like they were part of Gen. George Washington’s troops huddled in terrible winter weather.
“It rained,” he said. “You had to set up your tent in the dark and the mud was incredible. I remember tripping, falling and putting my hand in the mud and I came out with one glove missing. The next morning, I tried putting my hands in my coat and it was so wet it had frozen shut; so you learn a lot.”
Wilson, now 17, got involved in Scouting when he got a paper on his desk in primary school.
“I saw knives and fire and thought it’ll be fun,” he said, smiling.
He acknowledged there was a little pressure from his mom, who would become the den chief of Cub Scouts in charge of the young kids, but “it was just me,” he said.
He enjoyed the different trips through Scouting, including white water rafting. “Summer camp was always an experience. You just have a lot of memories that stick with you, sometimes good, sometimes bad, but it’s a lot of memories,” Wilson said.
His favorite merit badge was small boat sailing.
The two older Stauffers were members of the Order of the Arrow, a national honor society in Scouting. Wilson didn’t become a member because he had a conflict with a swim meet.
John Wilson Stauffer the first and John Wilson Stauffer Jr. are proud of their grandson and son becoming an Eagle Scout like them.
“I think it’s a really special thing that we’re all three Eagle Scouts,” the eldest Stauffer said. “It’s an accomplishment.”
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff