Inviting Eagles To Blue & Gold

[drmbear]

Sometime last year when updating my profile at the National Eagle Scout Association site, I found that I could get names and addresses of Eagle Scouts in my area. In thinking about how I could use that information, I figured I could invite them to our Blue & Gold Banquet in early March. Most of them are no longer in Scouting, and who knows the response, but it seems an interesting idea.

 

My question is whether anyone here knows of any drawbacks or problems with doing this? And do you have any ideas for how we can make the most of having them there? Any recommendations? --Thanks!!

[OwntheNight]

YES,YES,YES (Yes I'm shouting!)

 

Absolutely, Start calling them and inviting them to your B/G or other functions where the boys can interact with them. What a great opportunity for a Cub Scout to listen to an Eagle Scout and his tales of perseverance or even what Scouting meant to them growing up.

 

Last year, at our B/G, we invited 2 eagles that were Cub Scouts in our pack. Our boys were getting a little restless until these Young Men stepped up and started talking about their Scouting experiences. You could have heard a pin drop in the place. Our boys were absolutely enthralled by the fact that these 2 young men came from the same pack they were in and look at what they had done since.

 

You have a precious and valuable resource, Use it.

[clemlaw]

I think that's a great idea, and it highlights one of my pet peeves with the BSA (which it looks like they're in the process of correcting).

 

Like many old scouts, I drifted away from Scouting during college, and was never invited back. Almost thirty years went by, and nobody ever called me--not even to ask for money!

 

There were times during that thirty years when I was too busy to help out, or too broke to donate any money. But for most of that time, I would have helped out and/or donated, if someone had simply called me and asked me to do so.

 

Yes, I should have come forward myself. But I didn't, and a little nudge would have resulted in a volunteer or donor. As is often the case, I came back when I had a son in Cub Scouts. And coincidentally, they finally did call me shortly after that, as part of putting together the NESA directory and database.

 

Now, I'm not sure if the B&G is the correct event to invite old Eagles back. But it's a starting point.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that when someone receives the invitation, there will be two things going through their mind. They will assume that you are inviting them so that you can either ask for money, or ask them to volunteer. Now, I suspect that many of them will be willing to volunteer and/or donate money. But if it's just an invitation to come to the banquet, this will make them suspicious. They might be reluctant, because they don't know how you want them to volunteer, or how much money you are going to hit them up for.

 

So in your invitation, I would be up front about this possibility. From their point of view, forewarned is forearmed. If you don't say anything, then they might be afraid that they'll get ambushed at the dinner, and wind up being introduced as the new Cubmaster, or asked to donate thousands of dollars. That possibility might scare them away.

 

I would say something like, "we would like to recognize some of the Eagle Scouts who live in the area, so that the Cub Scouts can see the kind of people that Scouts become. If you would like to, we will give you an opportunity to briefly introduce yourself. We are not doing this to recruit volunteers, and we will not be soliciting any contributions. However, if you want to re-connect with Scouting, please give me a call, since we have many volunteer opportunities in our Pack, some of which require only a minimal time commitment. And if you would like to re-connect with Scouting as a volunteer in the Boy Scout or Venturing program, I would be happy to put you in touch with someone in the district who might know of volunteer opportunities."

 

That way, you confirm thier suspicions that they'll be asked at some point to volunteer their time or their money. But you're upfront about it, and you also make clear that you would like to see them even if they can't volunteer at this time.

 

Incidentally, it's pretty easy to search for them on the NESA website. It takes a little bit of work, but it's not too difficult. You can do a "global search", and simply search for nearby zip codes. However, you need to include the wild card character (I forget if it is * or !)at the end of the zip code, because many of the listings have 9-digit zip codes. So if you want people in zip code 12345, you need to search for 12345*, which will pick it up even if it's in a 9-digit format.

 

You need to then manually go through the list of results and click on all of them. You'll get a few false hits (e.g., someone with a phone number that starts with those five digits), but the majority of them will be people with addresses in that zip code.

 

In the 30 years that I was absent from Scouting, I'm not sure if I would have accepted such an invitation every time. But especially if it came once a year, I probably would have eventually. At the very least, I eventually would have called and said that I would be interested in being a Merit Badge Counselor or something.

 

Also, if you get the NESA magazine, check out the last issue, which had an article about a council in Chicago that is re-connecting with Eagles. They seem to have a lot of good ideas.

[Basementdweller]

A fine idea.

 

We have so many floating around between the troop and crew, it never dawned on me invite scout alumni. If they are in he nesa then they are at least passingly interested in scouting and possibly a huge untapped pool of volunteers. this might just be what they need to become involved again.

 

 

Applauding.......

[Crew21_Adv]

drmbear,

 

Greetings!

 

Good idea to invite Eagles out to a B&G. But like clemlaw, I'm not sure if is the best idea.

 

Let me start by saying. My attention span is short. I enjoy looking out the window at the squirrels, during lectures and presentations. So, if my attention span is that short, how do I compare with a 6 y/o Tiger or 10 y/o Webelos?

 

For a Cub Scout or Webelos. A 15 y/o Eagle Scout (or even Life Scout) is a "Rock Star"! A Boy Scout hopefully would enjoy hosting a Cub Scout interactive game, or performing a skit for a Blue and Gold.

 

We say this in my Troop. We tell our PLC that the 10 y/o Cubbie doesn't wanna be like "an old guy". They want to be just like the 15 y/o. We have Webelos Visitation in October with a Cub Friendly program, and we call it Hug-a-Webe.

 

I would hope inviting Eagles to a Blue & Gold would be a "Win-Win" situation for everyone.

 

Inviting the 2010 Class of Eagles from you district to Blue and Gold to assist and visit, that may be a great idea.

 

An adult Eagle Scout, may enjoy the honor of being celebrated. But would a Cub Scout really care what he had to say? I'm just not sold on the idea. Although, Would an adult Eagle Scout enjoy being asked to become an Assistant Cubmaster, Den Leader or Commissioner? You bet! (At least I would wager that bet)

 

Inviting Eagles to participate in some manner. I think that is spot on! How they participate, I guess that is up to you and your committee. Hopefully everyone is rewarded with you decision.

 

Scouting Forever and Venture On!

Crew21 Adv