I'm officially an Eagle Scout.

***djscoo*** · February 19th, 2009, 16:49

I just finished my board of review earlier, as you can imagine I was quite relieved to have heard "congratulations" at the end.

Lets go ahead and make this a "roll call" thread...I'm curious to hear about each of your scouting experiences if you have any.:typing:

***OBIO*** · February 19th, 2009, 17:16

Congratulations on becoming an Eagle Scout.

My Scouting experiences are not quite as good. I was not allowed to join our local chapter of the Scouts....Why? Because I knew too much! The troop leader believed that since I was already an avid outdoorsman, avid hunter, avid fisherman, avid tracker and wilderness nut..that I would gain nothing from joining the Scouts. When Dad asked "Wouldn't his experience and knowledge be worth having in your troop so he could pass that on to the other Boy Scouts", the troop leader got all huffy and said "That's my job." Dad looked at the guy, looked at me, back at the guy...and said "It must be pretty humbling to meet a 10 year old who knows more than you do."

OBIO

***Willy*** · February 19th, 2009, 17:24

Congratulations!

I grew up way out in the country (literally in the woods) and learned woodscraft and such as part of growing up. But, I did help a friends son work on his Eagle Scout though about 10 years ago so I know how much work is put into it.

**rayrey10** · February 19th, 2009, 17:28

Congrats! You are a member of an exclusive club.

I was a Cub Scout, and made it to Second Class Boy Scout. I would have liked to go on further but I played sports and couldn't dedicate the time to the Scouts that it required.

Probably on of my best childhood memory was attending a World Jamboree in Munich, Germany when I was a Webelos. Our camp site was between some British Scouts and some Scottish Scouts, we had a blast.

Again Congratulations!

**GT182** · February 19th, 2009, 17:59

Congrats on becoming an Eagle Scout Djscoo.

[3 fingers]

I was a Life Scout and lacked 3 merit badges in getting mine. And I belong to The Order of The Arrow. You know the handshake for that. And believe it or not I still have my Boy Scout uniform, and a pile of neckerchiefs too. I even have one from the Jamboree at Valley Forge back in the 60s.

***Jagdflieger*** · February 19th, 2009, 18:21

Congratulations!

Field craft is only part of becoming an Eagle Scout. Public service, academics and citizenship all are part of the equation. A fine accomplishment for any young man, but only rarely achieved.

**cheezyflier** · February 19th, 2009, 20:23

congrats! :woot:

you may or may not be aware that having eagle scout on your resume carries more weight than many other achievents you would also list.
it is deservedly well respected.

some of my favorite memories of my life are from when i was a scout.
i don't know if tenderfoots go through the same initiation that we did back in the day, but i will never forget ours. it was at camp rodney on the chesapeak. i still laugh when i think about it even though it has been 30+ years.

***djscoo*** · February 19th, 2009, 20:41

Originally Posted by cheezyflier

i don't know if tenderfoots go through the same initiation that we did back in the day, but i will never forget ours. it was at camp rodney on the chesapeak. i still laugh when i think about it even though it has been 30+ years.

"Snipe Hunts" are about the only "initiations" still allowed...though they'll probably be outlawed soon too.

**CG_1976** · February 19th, 2009, 21:02

Congrats on becoming a eagle scout from this Sea Scout.

**HeyChief** · February 19th, 2009, 21:40

I made it all the way to "Life" back in the 50's. Then discovered girls. The things I experienced and learned through scouting have really come in handy throughout my life. So, congratulations and carry on.

***Snuffy*** · February 20th, 2009, 04:28

Congrats!

I never achieved to an Eagle ... :(

I did make it to first class though.

***lifejogger*** · February 20th, 2009, 05:06

Congratulations, I have known a number of people over the years who were Eagle Scouts and they all were the kind of people you would enjoy working with and being friends with. You must be an outstanding young man.

***jmig*** · February 20th, 2009, 05:45

Outstanding son! You are one of the few and have a lot of which to be proud.

I never was in the Boy Scouts. Instead I joined the Civil Air Patrol.

As an adult I was involved in scouting for many years. For four of those years I was the Scout Master of our Troop, where I am proud to say I oversaw some eleven boys, including my two sons, earn the coveted Eagle rank.

Like Snuffy, I was in OA but, as an adult leader.

**cheezyflier** · February 20th, 2009, 06:56

Originally Posted by djscoo

"Snipe Hunts" are about the only "initiations" still allowed...though they'll probably be outlawed soon too.

yes, and that's a shame, really.

for our inititiation, we were all sitting around a gigantic bonfire right on the bay after dinner. while telling the story of "old man rodney" one of the older scouts slipped away from the fire un noticed. he waded out into the bay and covered himself with seaweed, and then waded back in close to the fire, making monster sounds. of course, we all made a good show of being afraid, and near panic, while the tenderfoots actually not being in the know were pretty scared. i should have been scared too, but 2 of my buddies let me in on the plan earlier that night. anyhow, we allowed the monster (who by now had somehow become 3 instead of one) chase us all over the campground, while the scout leader feigned panic and tried to come up with a plan to get us out of there to safety. at one point, we all became "trapped" in fisherman's cabin, with no power (someone had removed the fuses) and the monsters were coming in the door and windows. one boy was frozen with fear in the middle of the room. when the monster came in he moaned that he was about to take the boy's soul, and he passed out from the fear. then the lights came on, the monsters took of their seaweed and the scoutmaster gave us a talk about learning not to panic, and learning to overcome fear.
even though i was in on it, it was a lesson i never, ever forgot.

on a related note, the boy who passed out later became a member of an outlaw biker gang. he grew up to be a large, intimidating sort of person.
i ran into him at the funeral of a mutual friend who wrecked his bike.
when i reminded him of the inititiation "incident" he turned all red in the face and called me crazy, saying that never happened. i just snickered a little and changed the subject. i guess not everybody came away from the experience with the same lesson learned.