jon80flt

I found that a Baseball (5-gal) Bucket with a padded seat lid makes for an excellent Troop level first-aid kit. It's easy to organize (you can get dividers from Home Depot/Lowes), and makes a convenient extra seat when needed. There's even room for larger items, like a blanket, permission slips and epi-pens, or, in our case, personal "girl-stuff" items. We painted a huge "+" on it, in glow-in-the-dark paint, so it is easy to find at night. I also require each scout to have their own personal first-aid kit in their 10-essentials bag. Granted... we don't bring it on backpack trips!

Ok, now a point of view from an Eagle who didn't want his own ECOH. Hi all, I'm brand new to your site... I just stumbled across it this week... I'm liking what I've seen so far! As GWD-Scouter would put it, I was one of those boys who "got" his Eagle... who didn't "earn" it. I was 3 merit badges away from my Eagle on my 14th birthday, and I was still 3 merit badges away from Eagle when I was 17 1/2, when I decided to "just get it done." I had my EBOR on the morning of my 18th birthday... talk about getting in under the wire! At the time, I was having lots of problems at home... parents divorcing, hating the school environment, all I wanted to do was move out, get a job, make some money, and possibly go to college. I begrudgingly hooked up with my little brother's troop (my original troop folded) and did as little as I needed to, to accomplish the goal. Once I "got" my Eagle, I was nowhere to be found at the troop meetings... I was done. I was ready to move on. My Mother and I had big problems with each other at the time, but she insisted on putting together a huge ECOH, which felt more like a ceremony to congratulate herself on all the effort she put in to "helping" me get my Eagle. It was the LAST place on earth I wanted to be that night. That was 1982. Fast forward 27 years... now I'm the father of two beautiful and intelligent girls in Girl Scouts, and this year, I took on the job of a Girl Scout Cadette Advisor (Troop Leader) for my older daughter's troop. After helping in her troop over the years as Product Sales Manager, then Camping Leader, I realized that I, as a Dad and an Eagle Scout, can bring a unique skill-set to these middle-school aged girls. When I was 18, I wasn't thinking about others... I was thinking about my life finally getting started. I knew I would regret not earning my Eagle later in life if I didn't "get" it, much like my father does... who only made it to Life Scout before moving to an area that didn't have any Boy Scout oportunities available. So, I knew I had to finish it, but, like Basementdweller wrote, other than being able to put it down on my college application, I really had no other plans to use it. I guess, bottomline is, that when I "got" my Eagle, I was young and focused on my life... as I have matured, I believe I have "earned" my Eagle by what I am doing with it now. I think when Basementdweller wrote "Not in the scouting spirit. It is a shame that is possible for them to still earn it. Fewer eagles not more, make it mean something again.", he was being very short-sighted. I may have been "late to the party" in fully understanding how important Scouting can be, but now, having "earned" my Eagle, it has led me to a leadership position with my daughter's troop. While going through my ECOH scrapbook, I found a letter to me, written by Former President Gerald Ford. In that letter he wrote "Scouting has been good to you... as a boy. Be good to Scouting... as an adult." I belive I have taken his sentiment to heart, and I am proud to be one of the very few men willing to become a Girl Scout Leader.