Your troop traditions for your Eagles

[moosetracker]

ScoutMaster52.. I know of the letters from Pres.. & congressmen and stuff.. (BTW, if you haven't seen it yet. Obama's is very unimpressive) But... "Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs???" There's a story behind that somewhere.. You can't leave us hanging!

[Eagle92]

Moose

 

Check out these two links

 

 

http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/3/30/Mike_Rowe-Dirty_Jobs_Eagle_Letter.pdf

 

http://www.scoutingnews.org/2008/11/21/mike-rowes-offer-to-all-eagle-scouts/

[JFL49]

Our troop presents each Eagle Scout with a US Flag which has been flown over the Capitol (you can purchase the flag through your US Senator). We place the flag in a wooden shadow box. We also give a gift of a lifetime membership in NESA.

 

Our regular troop neckerchief is green with the troop number embroidered on it. Each Eagle Scout is presented with a special red neckerchief which has "Eagle Scout" embroidered on it in addition to the troop number.

 

Our Eagle Scouts pass along a challenge coin. We put their names on a plaque hung on the wall in our meeting place. The Scout's parents collect congratulatory letters as they may determine. The Troop Eagle coordinator will generally get a certificate from the Mayor and also the Governor to present at the COH.

 

The Scout/parents pick a Master of Ceremonies for the COH (which may or may not be the Scoutmaster) as well as decide who will present the Eagle award and who will present the Eagle charge. Generally, another Eagle Scout presents the award since our troop follows the maxim: It takes an Eagle to make an Eagle.

 

We leave it to each Eagle Scout (and his parents) on how and where they want the presentation made. Some Eagle Scout COHs are very elaborate, some include multiple Eagles, and a few Eagle presentations are made at a regular Troop meeting if that's what the Scout really wants. I've presided at an Eagle COH held in a park, at a Scout camp, held in our chartering church, and held in the Scout's synagogue.

 

When I was Scoutmaster, I too was very busy with Scouting, work, and family. But I was never too busy to attend an Eagle Court of Honor for one of my Scouts.

[NEPAScouter]

Assuming the scout's family is interested (not all of our members are Catholic) we traditionally have the presentation of the Eagle medal in our chartering organization's church. The presentation is made in the middle of the Mass, and an Eagle Challenge is read, in front of the whole congregation. After the Mass there is a dinner at which the troop's veteran Eagles form an honor guard to guide the new Eagle to the troop's Eagle plaque. The scout places his nameplate on the plaque.

 

Going back to 1928, the plaque has the names of, among others, the first two Eagles in the founding council, a WWII KIA, and a Distinguished Eagle. We don't overemphasize these facts at the dinner -- after all, it's the new Eagle Scout's day! However, the scout has heard these facts before and is fully aware of the kinds of work our Eagles have gone on to perform and that he is called to continue.

 

Never heard about the US Flag retirement idea before; strikes me as a great idea!

 

While we're on the topic of Eagle traditions, our council's Boy Scout camp (Goose Pond), has the following tradition. Near the end of the closing campfire, all Eagle Scouts are called to the stage area. They each say their name, troop #, and year of attaining Eagle. Then that week's new scouts who took part in the Pathways course (introduction to T-2-1 skills) are called up to stand in front of the Eagle Scouts. As a challenge to them, someone from staff plays "Eagle on His Chest" on a guitar and sings the lyrics written by Mike Huneke. Very inspiring, especially since right after that we sing Scout Vespers.

[cheffy]

Our Troop usually frames the Eagle certificate

there are roses for the mother.

As far as planning the ceremony.. we have one or two people handle this with the scout and parents. a few years ago the person who did this made up binders with different styles of ceremonies and popular readings etc. now it's like ordering a la carte. The scout just says "i want opening o-1, readings r- and r-4. the whole thing goes together in no time.

It's a small town so usually the mayor shows up( her kids are in Scout too) and the state reps if they are in town.

Troop buys cake and most families do some food after.

 

One tradition the scouts started on their own (the uniform police will kill me here)is that none of them wear their MB sashes during the ceremony, except the new Eagle. Their reasoning is that it is his day to shine and show off. They do put them on later for group pictures etc.

[Gwaihir]

Sadly my troop had to fold the year after I had attained the rank of Eagle Scout, but we did have a couple traditions...

 

1. Plaque in the Church Hall with every Eagle's name and year they earned Eagle. (my two brothers, myself and 2 other scouts are the last to be placed on the plaque, sadly)

 

2. A full binder presentation with invitation replies from various local public officials, Eagle Scouts, etc that the scouts and troop invite to the ECOH

 

I love the idea of retiring the colors and presenting them to the Eagle Scout. That's a fantastic idea!

[Gwaihir]

Forgot,

 

3. Mom pins the Eagle badge on the scout.

[perdidochas]

Not really sure all of the traditions, but one of the more noticeable ones is that the names of all the Eagles that the troop has ever had are painted on the back of the troop trailer.