Date: Thu, 22 Sep 1994 11:01:41 -0500
From: BrownF-CIC-IS <BrownF-CIC-IS@MICMAC.REDSTONE.ARMY.MIL>
Subject: Personal Note
To: Multiple recipients of list SCOUTS-L <SCOUTS-L%TCUBVM.BITNET@pucc.Princeton.EDU>
I hope the net will indulge me for a moment.
All the discussion of Eagle BoRs, as well as my own son's Eagle BoR has brought to mind my own trek up the trail and the non-registered "scouter" who kept me on the trail.
Way back in the distant past (early '60s), way out in the middle of nowhere (a little town that had survived from the oil boom days called Wewoka, Okla), there lived a Scouting family by the name of Kittrell. Hank Sr. was an ASM with Troop 426, Hank Jr. was an Eagle product of Troop 426 and second son Stanley was my contemporary in the troop. This family happened to live across the alley from me, so Stanley and I were involved in lots of "stuff" together. We learned that any time we indicated a lack for something to do Mrs. K could be counted on to direct us to some scout requirement we needed to work on. Cutting to the chase, Stanley and I, along with another of our neighborhood compatriots, had a triple ceremony for Eagle. They moved the following year and I lost all track of them.
The upshot of this is that I am not sure that I, or any of the three of us would have gotten there if it had not been for Mrs. K "gently prodding" us to work on our advancement.
If anyone on the net is knows any of the Kittrell clan, Hank Sr., Hank Jr., Stanley or Tommy, who were active in Scouting in Oklahoma in the '60s, (and I bet at least one of them is still involved), please pass on a word of thanks for the time they dedicated to the program.
I'm still working to deserve the Eagle I earned back then.
Frank Brown
Eagle Class '65 (Troop 426 Wewoka, OK)
MC - T351, Madison, AL
Date: Tue, 30 Aug 1994 05:25:28 -0500
From: Chris Schmidt <CSCHMIDT@DISNEY.IMAGE.KODAK.COM>
Subject: Eagle Badge
To: Multiple recipients of list SCOUTS-L <SCOUTS-L%TCUBVM.BITNET@pucc.Princeton.EDU>
Fellow Scouters,
After being apart for 20 years myself and my original Eagle Medal have been reunited together. As you may have read in a previous post earlier this month I was looking to replace my "LOST" Eagle Medal.
During the time I was Active Duty Air Force back in the early 70's, most of my personal belongings were packed away by my parents. After my return home in June of 1980, I started to round up my belongings. The one thing that we could not find was my Eagle Medal.
Shortly after posting for help to find a new one I was on the wire with my brother in Utah. He talked with my parents out there and Mom had remembered that she had thought she had seen an Eagle presentation case somewhere in the house. Mom and Dad retired and moved to Utah back in 1984. Well, Mom found it last week and mailed it out to me. I received it this weekend after returning from my weekend drill with my Air National Guard Unit.
I could not believe the groundswell of emotions and memories that rushed over me when I saw my Eagle Medal again! It's slightly tarnished and the ribbon has slightly faded with time and age, but the memories and the good times and fellowship were still there. My training in Scouting has served me well over the years. I am so glad that I was able to participate and enjoy Scouting during the turbulent 60's and early 70's.
I am also happy to be able to work once again in giving back to Scouting what I received from many good volunteers way back then. I am also glad that my son is quickly approaching the rank of Eagle. He has also enjoyed Scouting and probably has had a better experience than I have had.
I have recently been asked to stand up for a new Eagle in our troop for his Court of Honor. I will be speaking to him and the other Scouts in our Troop. This will be the first time since 1973 that I will be able to wear my Eagle Medal in uniform. I have been asked to explain the meaning of the Eagle Badge and what it means. This is a great honor this new Eagle has bestowed on me. I have seen this new Eagle grow over the past 4-5 years as he progressed along his trail to Eagle. I have seen many mistakes made and the education received from making those mistakes. This night will mean an awful lot to this young Eagle Scout. It will also mean alot to me.
As much as Scouting has been chastised lately for Old ideas and the lack of change in some areas, I for one Scouter am glad to be giving something back to scouting and to be part of helping to educate and mold some of these new scouts. There may be some problems in this world that we as Scouters have to deal with and work around. I miss the one on one experiences I had as a Scout in field activities with knowledgeable Scouters. The patrol hikes with a Scoutmaster, and other memorable side trips. Hopefully the Scouts currently coming up through the ranks will be able to look back on their own experiences and have the same happy memories we have had as Scouts!
Yours In Scouting,
Chris Schmidt
ASM Troop 90, Chili, N.Y.
Eagle Class of 1969
Ty-Ohni Lodge 95
Date: Mon, 19 Dec 1994 08:40:12 -0600
From: Jack Weinmann <aa855@CLEVELAND.FREENET.EDU>
Subject: Re: A SAD NIGHT (and a HAPPY STORY)
To: Multiple recipients of list SCOUTS-L <SCOUTS-L%TCUBVM.BITNET@pucc.Princeton.EDU>
About 8 years ago we had a District Executive that was a real gem. He was a living example of what a professional in Scouting SHOULD be.
It was learned that as a young man his family had moved around quite a bit due to his father's job. As a result of his moving he was CHEATED out of his Eagle advancement. He had done the work, filled out the paperwork, and TURNED IT IN! Somehow the adults let it slip through the cracks!
Well, as Paul Harvey would say, "And now..... the REST of the story!"
Some of the people in our district found out about his plight and decided to DO SOMETHING! They contacted National, somehow found his paperwork, and GOT IT PROCESSED. I would imagine that there was enough evidence by the dates on the paperwork, etc... that they could track the information and verify that it was the ADULTS involved that dropped the ball and that he did, indeed, deserve his Eagle.
His Eagle Scout award was presented to him at a Cub Scout Roundtable with the Boy Scout Roundtable attendees joining us for the event. He knew NOTHING about what was going on during the investigations of his paperwork and he certainly did not know what was to happen that night.
The Roundtable was interrupted for a "Special Presentation" and he stood there waiting to hear what that presentation would be. Apparently he thought that someone in our district was going to receive a training award. The person who did the presentation went through the story of a young man and the injustice that was accidentally perpetrated on him. They described a little about the steps that were taken to correct the problem and called him forward to receive his Eagle Scout badge, with regrets, of course, that it had taken so MANY years to get there!
He cried, we cried, he was speechless, and we were all proud that after so many years the trail of paperwork could finally be found and the wrong corrected. He had accepted the fact that he would never be an Eagle and this was - as he put it - the greatest thing that ever happened to him!
This was, indeed, a rare case based on a technicality, but it illustrates what can be done when the boy CARES about being an Eagle. He DID the work, followed the rules, and completed HIS part of the requirements. He WANTED it.
We must never forget that if WE ADULTS fail a boy - SHAME ON US!
If a boy really wants to earn the Eagle and the adults do their job - HE WILL!
If the boy does not care about the Eagle advancement there is nothing we can do about it. We can encourage, remind, etc... but then we must LET IT GO! We should be very careful with a boy after his 18th birthday that the issue never comes up again. It's too late, and is best left alone.
Yes it IS sad that a young man is so close to his Eagle and then lets it slip away, but is it sad for HIM or for US? If it means nothing to him, then it is probably better to leave him alone. Eagle is not for everyone.
We must then look into our own hearts to find out whether WE failed to motivate the boy, or whether his own priorities did not include Eagle Scout.
YIS,
Jack W. Weinmann aa855@cleveland.freenet.edu
Father of 3 boys (no Eagles & all have left the program) and
extremely PROUD of ALL THREE for their many non-Scouting achievements!
"If you ever forget that the boys are the most important
part of the program,
FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO DO"
Mr. John Gitzen - Course Director ECCS-19
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 1994 00:56:00 -0600
From: Darla Keller <C60DJK1@MVS.CSO.NIU.EDU>
Subject: Re: A Sad Night: Life not making Eagle
To: Multiple recipients of list SCOUTS-L <SCOUTS-L%TCUBVM.BITNET@pucc.Princeton.EDU>
re: A Sad Night: Life not making Eagle
I have many scouts that earned Life and did not complete Eagle. I would like to share a story on one such boy.
His older brother and the kids in his neighborhood were all Scouts. He was still in Cubs and counting the days until he could be a boy scout and going camping and hiking.
On his first campout, a tornado touched down nearby. The district Camporee was evacuated except for a few boys that got in the wrong car. They stayed the night through the tornado. His parents were sure that he would never go camping again. They were wrong, he loved it. He never missed a campout until 8th grade. He almost left the program due to peer pressure. Some of those friends did not finish high school, some got into crime, and eventually jail.
He renewed his interest in Scouting instead. He became ASPL and then SPL of a troop of 60 boys. he believed in Scouting and loved the outdoors but advancement wasn't a great interest. He was a freshman in high school before he even made First Class, it was the swimming requirement. He hated the water, hated it! All his friends were being elected into the Order of the Arrow, he was ineligible. He wasn't First Class. He finally did his swimming test, and passed, although he was sure he was going to drown the entire time. He was elected into OA.
Advancement after that came easily. He made Star, then Life. Then he was confronted with Swimming and Lifesaving MB's. This was way back when there were no options. He lingered there at Life.
A new change was announced in the advancement program when he was 17. New requirements for Eagle. Instead of 21 mb's, it was changed to 24, but instead of Swimming you could choose Sports as an option, instead of Lifesaving you could choose the new Emergency Preparedness as an option. Suddenly Eagle seemed possible.
He earned Sports and Emergency Preparedness and did his Eagle Project. He wrote up his paperwork and sent it in. It was sent back to the troop, unaccepted. There was a technicality.
Before a certain cut off date a Scout must do the old requirements, after a date they must do the new Eagle requirements, and between those dates a Scout could choose either. That date was determined by when you earned your First Class award. He was near a borderline date, but he fell on the side requiring him to complete Eagle under the old requirements. He would have to learn to swim.
Swimming was the hardest merit badge he ever earned. It took many months to learn the basics. He was a poor swimmer. He just barely passed the Swimming test a few weeks before his 18th birthday. He never earned Lifesaving. He didn't make it. He had 33 merit badges but was a Life Scout.
The boys scoutmaster was an old time Scouter named Harold Snow, but was known to everyone as "Irish". He was is his mid sixties and had been a Scoutmaster for about 20 years. He was very respected by all who knew him. He was the main reason this boy stayed in Scouting. Irish wanted to see this boy receive his Eagle as much as he had his own sons. Irish was irate that a boy could complete the requirement for Eagle, old or new, and be denied the award. He appealed all the way to the national office which was in New Jersey at the time.
The boys stayed as an ASM. When the boy was 19 he helped at the Spring Camporee. Sunday they were loading gear to go home and were one truck short. Irish and the boy sat waiting for the last truck.
Irish told the boy about the two Eagles in Scouting. One you wear on your uniform, the other you wear in your heart. Ideally, it would be great for each boy to hold both Eagles. But if only one Eagle could be touched, it is the one you wear in your heart that counts the most. In your heart is your true self, if Scouting touches you at all, it touches you there.
He told the boy a group of men sitting around a table somewhere had decided he would never wear an Eagle on his uniform, but it was up to him and him alone if he would continue to wear an Eagle in his heart. About that time a truck drove up and they loaded the last of the gear and went home.
A month later, the troop was back at the same location for a campout. Harold "Irish" Snow died that weekend, doing what he loved most, camping with his boys.
The boy never forgot about the two Eagles in Scouting. He remained in Scouting as an ASM for the new Scoutmaster, going to the Jamboree. Because of health reasons that Scoutmaster had to drop, another SM replaced him. Then he moved away, and there was no SM for the troop. The troop had dropped from 60 boys to about 9 active Scouts in less than 4 years.
The committee chairman asked the boy, now 22, to become Scoutmaster. He didn't want the job, he worked 30 hours/week to support himself as a full time student. He didn't have time for the SM job, or the interest. He finally agreed to take it on a temporary basis to keep the troop alive until they could find someone permanent.
I was that boy, I've been the temporary Scoutmaster of Troop 33 for 18 years now. I may not be too bright, but I sure am patient.
I've never forgot what "Irish" told me that day about the two Eagles. There have been many boys that have made Eagle, and I am very proud of each and every one of them. It is a special thrill for me to be a part of their Eagle. I've also had many Life Scouts that came oh so close. I've had a few hundred that didn't get close, at least to an Eagle they can wear on their chest.
To me, every boy that walks into my meeting room deserves the best program I can give him. Whether he's mine for 7 weeks or 7 years, whether he never makes it past First Class, I will do everything I can to try to touch him with one of the Eagles that Scouting has to offer. We don't make a difference in boys by what we pin on their shirts, but what we can instill in their hearts. That is what the Scouting program is all about. I know. An old Irishman told me that 22 years ago.
I did after all receive two Eagles from Scouting. One Court of Honor some years back, my Scouts surprised me with an honorary Eagle Award in the form of a plaque for 25 years in Scouting. It was the boys idea. The parents got in on it too by presenting me with a gold eagle on a chain. They also gave me a beautiful letter which said...
Dear Cliff,
Often the most important part of a gift is the letter accompanying it. This small gift of a gold eagle and chain for 25 years of involvement in Scouting is just a token from all of the parents present and past.
To our sons you have been a model, respecting and accepting each of them and encouraging their strengths.
You have shown compassion and support. You have demonstrated by your actions, the values and morals we are trying to build and shape into their character. You are a part of the dream we have for our sons. We respect and love you.
Please wear this gold eagle with pride.
The parents of your Scouts
My honorary Eagle was well worth the wait. It means more than the original one ever could have.
As a boy I was working towards Eagle mainly for my parents and my scoutmaster. It really wasn't that important to me at the time for some reason. So I can relate a little to what some Scouts feel when they don't reach for the highest award in Scouting. I also understand the regret they will feel some day.
I'm glad Scouting forced me to learn to swim. Everyone should know how to swim, it is an important skill. I have taken my Scouts to the Florida Keys many times for snorkeling trips. The kids love it. If you haven't done it, do it. Underwater is a beautiful place among the coral reefs. And you know what? Even though I can swim now and have taken my scouts on many snorkeling trips, to this very day, I still hate the water!
YIS, Cliff Golden
Three Fires Council, Illinois BSA