Family welcomes 12th Eagle Scout

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Family welcomes 12th Eagle Scout

 

http://www.tmnews.com/articles/2006/07/16/sections/news/news74.txt

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Sunday, July 16, 2006 Last modified: Sunday, July 16, 2006 6:46 AM CDT

 

By Jason Mullis, Hoosier Times

 

BEDFORD - There are 12 virtues the American Boy Scouts espouse to the youth in their charge. Similarly, when Travis Scherschel earned the highest rank of Eagle Scout Saturday, he became the 12th Scherschel to do so.

 

"Becoming an Eagle Scout is an outstanding achievement, which requires hard work and dedication," Mark Scherschel, Travis' father, read from a letter from President George W. Bush. "Your accomplishment serves as an example of excellence and a source of pride for your community."

 

The Scherschels' extended family and friends gathered at the Knights of Columbus for Travis' Court of Honor, and a majority of those in attendance were Boy Scouts. Most of those of Boy Scouts were also Eagle Scouts.

 

"It's significant because only four percent of Boy Scouts who join obtain Eagle Scout," said Travis' older brother John, who earned Eagle Scout status five years ago. Like the other Scherschels, he couldn't really explain why so many of his direct family, including his three brothers, aspired to the same goal.

 

"It's just that scouting is our life, I suppose," John said. "We still do the other extracurricular activities, but on the weekends, when most kids are watching cartoons at 8 a.m., we are here having our Boy Scout meeting." The interest in scouting started with Mark's father.

 

"With six boys, he wanted something that would give us good character development," Mark explained. "That's what the Boy Scouts are all about."

 

Then five of those Scherschel brothers went on to become Eagle Scouts, and they say their oldest brother would have been one as well, if his troop hadn't disbanded before he was able to earn the rank.

 

Those brothers each went on to raise Eagle Scouts of their own.

 

"Keep your boys in scouts," advised Mark's brother Greg Scherschel, who has two sons, Josh and Joe. They are all Eagle Scouts.

 

"You can take your boy to swimming," Greg continued. "You can take him to baseball, you can take him to basketball. But you can be in the scouts with him.

 

"Especially as he moves into adolescence and you need something to keep you together."

 

He said the Boy Scouts "kept the lines of communication open at times when they just would not have been otherwise."

 

For Travis, the desire to be a scout seemed ingrained. He, too, couldn't explain why he wanted to become an Eagle Scout. He easily listed reasons why he liked the Scouts, and he understood his resume would look better because of his rank. But becoming an Eagle Scout was almost inevitable, despite the amount of hard work it requires.

 

It is, after all, the type of person he is.