NORTH ANDOVER — Nick Cote and Kyle Skelton felt like rich kids the day they found a soggy, smelly, brown leather pocketbook containing $600 in cash while cleaning up trash on the Saco River in Maine.
"I was thinking a dirt bike," Nick said, recalling what he planned to do with his share of the money that the two 12-year-olds had come across.
"Never touched this much money before in my life. My friends didn't believe we found that much money," said Kyle, who began dreaming about the Xbox 360 video game console he wanted to buy for himself.
But the dreams of going out on a shopping spree didn't last long when the boys discovered credit cards and other identification inside the purse.
"We decided it would be the right thing to give it back to the owners," Kyle said.
"If I lost $600, I'd want it returned. So we wanted to return it to the people who lost it," Nick agreed.
It wasn't a difficult choice, say the young members of North Andover Boy Scout Troop 86, which was chartered in January. Most Scouts would have done the same thing, they say, being honest while living according to the Scout Slogan: "Do a Good Turn Daily."
But Michael and Delia Dionne said they were both shocked and awed by the Scouts' good deed of returning something the Dionnes had lost during a summer vacation in 2004. The Hudson, Mass., couple were enjoying a ride down the Saco River when their canoe went under a low-hung branch of tree and capsized in the strong current.
They were able to save themselves and retrieve the canoe downstream after a harrowing experience. But Delia Dionne's pocketbook was lost — along with all of the couple's money, identification cards and keys to their car and vacation cottage.
"They could have kept quiet and just kept the cash," said Mike Dionne. "But it's nice to know there are still honest people in the world."
Using the computer, Nick's mother, Jennifer, was able to track down the Dionnes' telephone number several weeks ago and left a message that she had something that belonged to them.
As soon as Mike Dionne received the message, he knew the call was about the long-lost purse.
"Unbelievable — the honesty that it took to do this. We told them to keep half the cash," Mike Dionne said.
Delia Dionne was so impressed with the Scouts that she plans to make a trip to thank them personally.
"Heck, our friends want to meet them," Delia Dionne said.
"They don't make kids like that anymore. I've never seen anyone that honest in all of my life. The parents of those kids should be proud," she said.
Kyle's father, Tim, the Scoutmaster of Troop 86, called it a character-building experience that would make any parent proud.
"It was a great opportunity for them to think about the issues of being selfish or doing the right thing," said Tim Skelton, whose troop numbers 11 Scouts and 11 adult leaders.
"I think most kids would have kept all of the money. But Scouts definitely are more likely to do the right thing," he said.
As for the reward money, the Scouts decided it wouldn't be right to spend it on themselves because they found the money during a troop project.
Instead, the boys decided the money will be used to buy the lumber and concrete footings for the boardwalk extension on the nature trail that leads to the Sargent School Woodland Study Area.
Troop 86 will plan and lead the project and then help the Cub Scouts from Sargent Pack 86 assemble and install the boardwalk sections on the nature trail.
"The boys wanted to give something back to their charter organization, Sargent School PTO," Tim Skelton said.
"All Boy Scout troops are interested in teaching values and promoting character development. Troop 86 tries to do this through allowing the boys to make choices and then reflecting on the values and character traits underlying those choices and the natural consequences that result," he said.
"The basic premise guiding the troop is that character lessons are learned best through the voluntary action of their own lives rather than through lectures from adults."
