Eagle Scouts…



100 years ago this year, the FIRST Eagle Scout completed the required merit badges and interviewย August 21, 1912.ย Arthur R. Eldred of Oceanside, New York, became the first young man in America to earn the Eagle Scout award, which is pictured above.


I got mine in 1967 at age 16, and Order of the Arrow in 1968; I’ve never regretted the time or effort required, and I STILL use those life lessons learned in Scouting…


Anthony Thomas of Minnesota became the 2,000,000th Eagle Scout in 2009, and today there have been a total of 2,043,375 Eagles awarded…


As you probably know if you read MArooned, Jay and his son are active in Scouting and his son is ‘advancing’ from Cub Scouts this year.


What you may not know, is there are currently 62,226,396 Cub Scouts andย 52,077,933ย Boy Scouts registered with the BSA this year for a total of 114,304,329 kids in Scouting and 33,364,261 adult volunteers!


And since I’m on a roll (yeah, I know, shaddap)…


Two major artists have been closely identified with Scouting for many years, they are Norman Rockwell, who did 51 paintings about Scouting and Joseph Csatari, who has carried on the tradition with 24 paintings. ย All of them can be viewed HERE.


This was the first one Norman Rockwell did in 1925…


Another little ‘oddity’ is that 181 of the Astronaut corps has been Scouts.


There is an organization called the National Eagle Scout Association that welcomes all Eagle Scouts and continues to support Scouting!


And honestly, THIS is the best thing I could come up with to post today, as NOTHING in the news was positive…


I’m curious, how many of y’all were Scouts (Boy or Girl)???

Comments

Eagle Scouts… — 45 Comments

  1. Scout from third grade through tenth. Made it to Star. Left the troop (along with three other scouts at the same time/meeting) because the scoutmaster was a dick and treated us as a nuisance instead of pushing/coaching/helping us to progress. His wife was a council executive and was arguably even worse.

    My father and his three brothers all made Eagle, as did Grandpa before them.

    I can honestly point to scouting as some of the best times of my life (High Adventure canoe trip, National Jamboree 1993) and part of what’s made me who I am today. I want to get involved in scouting again, but I refuse to do so until the BSA changes its stance on openly gay scouts.

  2. Was active on Scouts from 5th grade through my first two years of college in a venture crew.

    Finished my climb to the nest in 2001 just before my 18th birthday. Did two National Jamborees, a Jamboree in British Columbia, staffed JLT, hiked Philmont, and am a fellow arrowman.

    Overall I was home only maybe one whole week of my summer vacation. I’m still listed as an adult member of my home troop.

  3. Ditto with doubletrouble.
    About the same time as you

    Wish I’d have put more effort in…now – but the consequences of puberty and the times got in the way then
    Q

  4. Eagle Scout, OA, Explorers and a stint as ASM. Got my first real job in 1984 in a brutal job market because I listed Eagle on my application. HR guy was an Eagle and knew what it meant.

    Roger

  5. Active in Scouts from second to eighth grade, but didn’t finish.

    Both of my older sons have been Scouts, and Boo will be too.

    And I was Bear den leader. An hour a week my ass. But it was a lot of fun even with all the work.

  6. I only made it to Life Scout but am a brother Order of the Arrow scout also. Use my scouting skills almost daily. Troop 303, MA.

  7. Cub and Boy up to First Class.
    Dad was a scoutmaster in our troop.
    Friend (young man) at church made Eagle last year. Went to his pinning.
    Hoosierboy is an Eagle.
    Congrats to those of you who did it.

  8. Not an Eagle but both my sons are, and my daughter got her Gold Award (Girl Scout Eagle equivalent). Yes, I am proud of them.

  9. Did cub scout back in the early 70’s, then Dad got transferred to Germany and there were no cub scouts. Came back to states 3 years later and went into boy scouts. All the way to life scout and working on Eagle and puberty and JROTC got my attention and didn’t finish. Few regrets and that is one of them. Son is in cub scouts, all the way from tiger to bear, and I have been den leader all 3 years, will become webelo leader this fall and keep it going.

  10. I did not make it far in scouting, but that says nothing about the organization, and much about me.

    I’ve been a guest at a number of Eagle inductions, my students.

    Those were very, very good moments.

  11. I never made it past Cub Scouts but my oldest son is an Eagle and my little one is on his way (he wants to get his at a younger age than his brother). Gotta love competition.

  12. Zer- Understood all.

    MM- Yep, pretty much the same here, I was a counselor for a couple of years at camp/jamboree

    DT- ๐Ÿ™‚

    Quiz- Understood!

    Roger- Yep

    Alan- ๐Ÿ™‚

    DB- Yep a ‘bit’ more than that required… but it DOES pay dividends!

    CHeck6- That seems to be a common thread…

    Ed- Thanks

    Newb- And YOU set the example

    MrG- That happens, and thanks for stepping up!

    Carteach- Not every one makes it, but the ceremony IS worth it

    We the People- AH yes, competition! ๐Ÿ™‚ My Grandson says he’s going to make it younger than I did ๐Ÿ™‚

  13. I did a stint, but growing up in the country there wasn’t a ton to learn.

    Hey, I know you’ve fulfilled your obligation on your blog award, but I gave you one too.

  14. I teach the Boy Scout Rifle Merit badge now. I was in the Cub Scouts but then moved to the Civil Air Patrol Cadet program.

    They still do good work and I am proud to teach them. I was surprised that they still had the Rifle merit badge!

  15. I was a cub scout back in the sixty’s. Made it as far as a weblo scout. I still have my scout books. And a boy scout hand book also.
    I wish I could of stayed with it.

  16. Did a year of Cubs. Was too much of a loner to appreciate the experience.

    The Raleigh,NC, News & Observer has a fine article about an exhibit at the NC Museum of History regarding Eagle Scouts in NC.

  17. Made Eagle 12/13/98, according to the card I carry in my wallet. Was inducted into the Order of the Arrow roughly the same time frame. I know I was part of the last group to enter under Oala Ishadalakalish, before a council change forced some reorganization.

    Both of them are major points of pride in my life. I hope I can raise sons who think and feel the same way.

    (wv: dogere – What I do to old Scout handbooks, so I can find all that wonderful information.)

  18. Very interesting stuff.

    I was a brownie for a bit, but my parents were not good at constancy, so it didn’t last long. I have not thought to put our son in scouts, but something to think about…

  19. Earned mine (finally) in 1967 when I was a member of the Explorer Post sponsored by the Submarine Base at Pearl Harbor. We used to shoot at the Sub Base range for NRA qualifications. Capt. Purington, the Sub Base commander, was our sponsor.

  20. I was a Girl Guide, both my girls started out in Guides but we changed them across to Cubs last year (much more active & outdoor oriented).

    Miss 10 is moving up to Scouts this year, Miss 9 will stay in Cubs a bit longer. And yep, I’m on the Committee as the Treasurer …

  21. 45er- Yeah, country boys DID have an advantage on some of the merit badges ๐Ÿ™‚ And thanks!

    Keads- Yep I don’t think that one will go away, and thanks for assisting!

    ASM- I was wondering about that ๐Ÿ™‚ Thanks!

    Flier- Yep, still have mine too!

    Bob- Thanks for the link!

    Loki- Outstanding!

    Jim- I can believe that, and better you than me friend!

    N1- Yep, lots of folks had that happen.

    Agirl- see N1 comment.

    PE- Yep, the Navy STILL sponsors a lot of posts…

    Julie- Thanks for pointing that out, I forgot about the overseas equivalents

  22. former GS here. never bothered to get my Silver or Gold awards, which was pretty stupid. troupe disbanded right around when i would have started working on my Silver. didn’t have the support i needed, so i quit.

    that said…the time i spent in Scouting was great. i still remember the layout of the camp i went to every summer. ๐Ÿ™‚

  23. yeah, i know. still, i’m disappointed…mostly in myself. i should have finished.

  24. My daughter’s in Girl Scouts, and is working on her Silver award. My son’s the same age as Marooned’s, and is about to cross over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts in a couple months, along with 6 other boys I’m also very proud of, having been their den leader for the last three years. Have also been asst. Cubmaster for the whole time my son’s been in Cub Scouts.

    I wasn’t in Scouting for very long – 2-3 years, thanks to too many relocations, but wish I’d been able to stay with it. I plan to continue volunteering in my son’s Scout troop as well.

    As Roger said, being involved in Scouts helped open the door on a job. Was out of work for 9 months, and then got an interview at a company that employed another Cub Scout dad, and he was able to put in a good word for me.

  25. I was in Scouting from 7 to 16 years old. I made it as far as Life before I was drifted away. I really enjoyed the time, including all the time spent in Germany with members of different international scouting troops. I was 2 badges and my project short of finishing my path to Eagle when we moved back stateside.

    I got deeply discouraged (and ended up quitting scouts over it) by the clique-ish behavior and attitudes of the only local scout troop.

    My only real regret in life (despite many mistakes, erm, learning experiences) is stopping there, when I was so close to completing it.

    Some of my fondest memories of childhood are of times we spent on campouts. It’s not many American children who can say that they went camping in the Alps several times a year for 8 years. ๐Ÿ˜€ Though, doing the OA ordeal in the Alps in February … Let’s just say those of us on that round can definitely say we earned it.

  26. I went from Wolf to Life and OA. Then I discovered girls ;-).

    I was also an adult leader until I came back from Lebanon in ’84. I was told by the local council that because I wasn’t married and didn’t have a son in the troop, I couldn’t work directly with them, only in the Council.

    Imagine my reaction. Seems they didn’t teach that language to Council members.

  27. Laura- I ‘suspect’ it still made a pretty significant impression though… ๐Ÿ™‚

    Dirk- Thanks for the time and effort, and yes, it does open doors.

    Shamandin- Yep, THAT must have been an experience! And hindsight is always 20-20…

    Don- Since I’m now an old fart, I’m in the same boat (all kids gone), so I do what I can to support them through NESA.

  28. Scout for 11 years, made Eagle last year. Scouting was (and is) one of the most important things in my life, as well as longest lasting. Definitely worth doing throughout it’s entire existence.

  29. It’s a great program. Went through WEBLOS, had no adult Boy Scout leaders in my small town. However, I spent 12 years as an assistant scout master and have had around a dozen complete the Eagle requirements including my so. I have one in “the ‘stan” now, a 1stLT on the hairy edge right now. Pray for him every day. His twin just got back 4 months ago. Another is a ranger with the 2nd Battalion from Savana and has one trip under his belt and another just got his commission as a 2nd LT in the AF. Great kids, great memories. Reminds me, about time for another trip with the troop!

  30. Scout troop at our church just celebrated its 50th year. The founder was there for the big celebration. He’s 95 years old now.

  31. The Boy was in Cub Scouts, but politics & pettiness kept him from joining the Boy Scouts. I served all 5 years with the Cubs doing everything from Den Mother to Scout Master & ran day camp for 150 little darlings several years.

    It was a great experience & he truly loved it, especially Pine Wood Derby time. (All 5 years first in pack, 3 out of 5 he placed 1st at counsel & 1 first in state)

    The Girl tried Girl Scouts, but deemed it far to “silly”, after having participated 5 years as a tag-a-long in Cub Scouts.

    At 5, she out-shot all the boys at camp. At 6, she out-shot the den leader teaching shooting sports. (BB guns) All the GS around here wanted to do was make paper flowers & sell cookies. ๐Ÿ˜€

  32. Wanted to join the Girl Scouts but was told that I probably wasn’t the right type and I didn’t push it. (Apparently chubby nerds new to town needed not apply). The local group underwent a major change in leadership a few years ago and things are much better, so I’m told. That said, I still prefer to give my $$ to the Boy Scouts.

    LittleRed1

  33. Jenn- That’s great!

    Snigs- Yep, those things do happen, and knowing your family, I’m NOT surprised about the shooting…

    LR1- Thanks for the support, and sorry things didn’t work out for you.

    Bandaid- Congrats, and thanks for continuing to serve!