SHOOTING THE BREEZE WITH PATSY: JACKSON WOMAN TEACHES SCOUTS TO SHOOT

Patsy Johnson may be 74 years old and stand only 5 foot 1 inch tall, but she cuts an imposing figure among the Cub Scouts she's been teaching to fire BB guns for over 30 years.

"Put the other knee up," the Jackson, Mo., great-grandmother barks at one of her charges. "That's it. Look at the hole ..."

The Cub Scout fires.

"Good job!"

All the boys who take her course at this week's day camp at Cape Girardeau County Park are rewarded for their target prowess, receiving beads for their efforts. If they hit two spots on their target within the space of a dime, or three in the space of a quarter, they receive fancier beads. Johnson said the most important thing is that the Cub Scouts try.

She began shooting BB guns when she was 10 years old. "I traded in my slingshot for a BB gun," she said. "I shot bows and arrows for a while, but BB guns were always my thing."

Johnson has been teaching Cub Scouts in the area BB gun techniques and safety since 1969. She's taught day camps at Marble Hill, Perryville and Chaffee, Mo., and has been teaching the Jackson and Cape Girardeau camp ever since they combined in 1971.

"I've taught two or three generations sometimes," she said. "It's really fun to have a Cub tell me that their mom or dad was in the program. Often they like to find the same gun that their parents fired and use it."

Johnson also taught physical education and the BB gun course at Jackson High School from 1970 until she retired in 1989.

Lifelong impression

"Miss Patsy," as she is called, makes a lifelong impression on her boys. She remembers one vacation in particular, at the Space Center in Alabama.

"A little boy yelled, Gun lady! It's the gun lady!'" she said, laughing. "Of course, I knew he was referring to me, but those security guards just went ballistic. I was so embarrassed."

She also spoke of running into former Scouts years later in places around Jackson. "During deer season one year, I had a young man come up to me in the Jackson Wal-Mart who remembered me," she said. "He said he was still using the shooting position I'd taught him as a Cub Scout. That kind of stuff really makes you feel good."

Johnson wakes up early every morning to prepare for the camps and spends most of her nights cleaning and loading the guns and making sure everything is safe.

As part of her safety lesson, she turns and yells at her boys, "There is no such thing as an ..."

"Unloaded gun!" they echo back.

Sebastian Starrett, 10, of Cape Girardeau, said he'd never shot a BB gun before Johnson's course. "She's a really good teacher," he said. "She knows how to shoot the right way."

Johnson said the help of her den chiefs, Kyle Mowery, 12, of Troop 11 in Jackson, and Logan Brennecke, 14, of Troop 8 in Cape Girardeau, make the course possible.

"They really help my program go," she said. "I am so proud when I can step back and know they can handle it."

Enthusiastic volunteer

Bill Crowell, district executive for the Shawnee District of the Boy Scouts of America, said that Johnson has contributed a lot to the program with her dedication and enthusiasm, and always has lively stories.

"At the Chaffee day camp this year, we were all sitting around hot and sweaty and tired, and she walked in and told all of us she'd been up since 4 that morning picking strawberries," he said.

"I hope I'm that energetic when I'm her age."

Although Johnson will retire from teaching Cub Scouts about BB guns after this year, she said she will remain active in Troop 11, serving as a committeeman and a Boy Scout rifle merit badge counselor.

She also plans to spend time with her family. Her great-granddaughter is 2, and Johnson said that she, too, will soon join in the BB gun tradition. "When she turns 4, she'll get her little gun," Johnson said. "I'll teach her, too."