With a name like Honest Uyeno, it’s not surprising that over the past 32 years countless parents have entrusted him to teach their children character-building skills to last a lifetime.
The 81-year-old cubmaster with the Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America began volunteering with the venerable organization when his 8-year-old son joined scouting in 1983.
Uyeno, who was also a Boy Scout in Hilo, started as an assistant leader and continued volunteering long after his son, who now lives in Colorado, earned the highest rank of Eagle Scout in 1992. He retired in 1999 as a petroleum chemist for the federal government.
"When it comes to scouting programs, Mr. Uyeno is all heart. His heart is in the opportunity to help the boys learn from an early age the importance of building character," says Allie Sato, whose sons Jet and Jax he guided through the Cub Scout program. "It’s not just about the Scouts. Mr. Uyeno is about family involvement and making it become a family experience so that everyone learns together."
When Sato’s children first joined the program eight years ago, Uyeno was singlehandedly doing everything from administrative paperwork to handling the finances and running business meetings with parents, Sato says.
Gradually Uyeno let other parent volunteers take over many of those duties so he could focus on teaching the young boys.
"Slowly we started taking things away from him because we would see so much joy in his face when he would be with the Scouts teaching them new skills like knot tying, knife safety and fire building," Sato says. "That’s where his heart is. When he’s with the kids, he’s the happiest."
Families see his passion and commitment to their children from the start. Uyeno goes the extra mile by making kukui nut slides, or fasteners, for neckerchiefs he gives to every boy who joins the pack. Roughly 20 Scouts join each year.
As cubmaster of Pack 10 in Kaimuki, Uyeno works tirelessly to train the Scouts on the skills they need to achieve within a year in order to get their badges and move on to the next level in scouting. That includes leading all the activities from morning until night during outdoor family camps and teaching the boys how to bake cakes in cardboard boxes and cook rice in paper cups using just a few pieces of charcoal.
He also teaches them "all of these simple things" such as putting up a tent correctly and differentiating between edible plants and poisonous flora, as well as essential life skills like time management and leadership that will help them into adulthood.
"You take it for granted, but unless you teach kids the right way, they’re never going to learn," he says. "I really enjoy it. It’s nice to see a boy grow up.
"I see a boy who comes in for the first time. They’re so shy and so afraid and don’t know what to expect. Two years later they’re rascals, and then they move into Boy Scouts, and when they get their eagle (rank), they are such a different person."
The longtime leader of the pack also gets a kick out of seeing several generations come through the scouting program. He currently is teaching two second-generation Scouts whose parents were also taught by him.
"I told the pack as long as kids enjoy what they’re doing in Cub Scouting, I’ll continue to teach them," he says. "In scouting what we’re trying to teach them is citizenship, sportsmanship, duty to God and to help other people. The activities that we do is to supplement (that). Whenever I talk to the boys, I always tell them, ‘Remember your Cub Scout promise.’"
Uyeno acknowledges that some of the boys don’t realize the importance of the skills and values he tries to instill in them until they become adults.
"The attitude of kids is, What’s the big deal of it?" he says. "I told my son you’ll appreciate it when you get to be in your 30s because … all that you learn in Boy Scouts comes out."
Aside from the long hours spent teaching the Scouts, Uyeno also has given his time for the past decade to Project Dana, a national volunteer caregiving program that helps seniors and the disabled with things like transportation, home repairs, housekeeping and caregiver support. He volunteers to take senior citizens living by themselves to medical appointments and shopping for food and other necessities.
Uyeno recently woke up before dawn to drive an elderly woman to the airport at 5:30 a.m. after her son died.
"When you help people and you talk to them, after a while they become your friend, and they become part of your family," Uyeno says, also jokingly referring to himself as a chauffeur for his wife and grown daughter, who live with him in Palolo Valley.
Every morning Uyeno takes his dog walking 1 to 2.5 miles to stay in shape so he can keep up with the active Scouts. Uyeno has no plans to retire anytime soon from his pack duties, which give him a sense of purpose and joy in his golden years.
"When (the boys) succeed and do something, oh, you should see their face. That’s rewarding enough," he says. "We have some boys who can do certain things and cannot do other things. I tell them, ‘Don’t worry, nobody’s perfect.’ If you try and keep on trying, you’ll be able to do it. Just seeing them do the right thing and seeing that they enjoy it, that’s my satisfaction."
