Those new wings feel GOOOOOD!

Troop 479 is proud to announce that Ryan Simspon has joined the select few who have earned the coveted rank of Eagle Scout.  Ryan passed his Eagle Scout Board of Review on Wednesday, 29-Feb-2012.  Our troop has been blessed with a statistically significant number of Eagles over the past few years including Ryan, Charles, Joey, Seth, Brandon, Garrett, Drew, and Dylan.

What does it mean to be an Eagle Scout?  When asked this question, another Eagle answered:

“This is an interesting question that I find myself from time to time having to answer.  Occasionally when someone finds out that I am an Eagle Scout, they will look at me and say. ‘Ok, what does that mean?’.  To me an being an Eagle Scout is being the example not just for younger Scouts but for everyone around me.  It is not just holding doors and helping little old ladies across the street, it is being the one to stand up and say I will take care of it when something goes wrong or being the one that stops at an accident and know what to do beyond calling 911.  It’s taking blame and giving praise, it is being the first one to start working and being the last one to quit.  Simply put to me being an Eagle Scout is being a true Man.”

Note also these facts from Wikipedia:

“At least forty astronauts earned the rank as a youth, including Neil A. Armstrong, and 10 of the 11 other Apollo astronauts to walk on the moon. Businessmen who have earned the award include Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, Marriott International CEO J. W. Marriott, Jr., and Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City and founder of Bloomberg L.P.

Eagle Scouts can be found in prominent public offices, as recipients include 38th President of the United States Gerald R. Ford, 22nd U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, 13th and 21st U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Stephen Breyer. In academia, Eagle Scouts are represented by Pulitzer Prize-winner E.O. Wilson, Gordon Gee, President of Ohio State University, and Kim B. Clark former Dean of the Harvard Business School.

Entertainers who earned the BSA’s highest rank include documentary filmmaker and Academy Award-winner Michael Moore, Academy Award-winning director Steven Spielberg, and Mike Rowe, host of the Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs. Athletes who have earned Eagle Scout include Basketball Hall of Famer (later U.S. Senator) Bill Bradley and MLB All-Star Shane Victorino.”

We would like to thank those who take the time to sit on an Eagle Board of Review.  Lately, the trio of Kathy Zabloudil, Tony Zabloudil, and Marsha Grammar have examined our young men and found them to be qualified for the Eagle rank.  Also, we’re thankful for the many adult leaders and parents over the years who support and encourage our scouts in roles big and small.

Congratulations on a job well done, Ryan.  We are all proud of you!

A new member of the select few

It is with great happiness that we welcome Charles Coker to the precious few who have earned the coveted rank of Eagle Scout.  Charles passed his Eagle Scout Board of Review on Wednesday, 14-Dec-2011.  It’s important to reflect on what it means to be an Eagle Scout.  The 1938 Handbook for Scoutmasters put it this way:

The badges which accompany his advancement and which the Scout wears on his Uniform are not to show that he has “passed certain tests.”  There should be no past tense implied!  On the contrary, each badge cries out, “I can, right here and now!

So what can an Eagle Scout do?  Let’s take a look at some of the things Charles has done in preparing to be an Eagle Scout.

In terms of badges, he has earned the Scout badge and the ranks of Tenderfoot, 2nd Class, 1st Class, Star, Life and finally Eagle.  Along the way, he earned 12 required merit badges and a number of elective merit badges, served in troop leadership positions far beyond the minimum of 16 months and worked more than 12 hours on service projects, not including the many hours he spent on his Eagle Scout service project.  In all, he has completed about 325 different requirements.

So what have these requirements taught him?  What is an Eagle Scout?

First and foremost, of course, he is an outdoorsman.  He knows how to camp, swim, hike, use woodsman tools, build a fire, and find his way with a map and compass.  He’s spent at least 20 days and nights camping out in a tent he has pitched on a site he has selected.  Many of those times he planned his own menu and cooked his own food.

An Eagle Scout is comfortable with nature.  He can identify local animals and plants, including poisonous ones.  He understands the causes of water, land and air pollution.  He’s spent 8 hours studying a 10-acre plot of land and has reported what he saw.

He embodies the Scout motto, “Be Prepared.”  He knows how to treat fractures, head injuries, hypothermia, convulsions, frostbite, burns, abdominal pain, muscle cramps – even knocked-out teeth.  He knows what to do for fires, explosions, desert emergencies, motor vehicle accidents, mountain accidents, food poisoning, gas leaks, earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, atomic emergencies and avalanches.

An Eagle Scout is a good citizen.  He’s been to a city council meeting and knows how the city government is organized.  He’s studied the city budget.  He know who his US Senators and Representative are and has written a letter to one of them.  He’s read the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.

He knows how to manage his money and understands the benefits of putting his money in savings bonds, mutual funds, or common stock. He can find foreign-currency exchange rates in the newspaper.

He’s a good family member. He knows what things are important to the members of his family and has talked to his family about finances, drug abuse, and growing up.  He’s done a safety inspection of his home and reviewed his family’s escape plans.

All of these things he did in order to earn the merit badges required for Eagle.  Beyond those, he earned several elective merit badges, which introduced him to subjects such as Canoeing, Cooking, Forestry, Geology and Cinematography.  He knows how to swamp a canoe … and recover it.  He knows how to plan a menu and serve a meal for his patrol.  He knows how to identify trees, when different kinds of rocks got made, and how to tell a story.

So what is an Eagle Scout?  Well to quote that old Handbook for Scoutmasters again, he is a young man “who is qualified to help others as well as take care of himself.”  His badge is not “a decoration, but rather a symbol of knowledge and ability.”

Welcome to the top, Charles.  We are all proud of you!