 |
| This is for all the real Eagle Scouts |
Young teenage boys doing EASY Eagle Projects.
Today we received a paper on our front door looking for toy donations. The kid is going to clean the ones that aren't clean enough for donating for his project. But don't worry, he won't be over-exurting himself or doing too much work- "ask your kids to do it! They'll love to help!" Who approves these things? Seriously!
Ever seen that "RM" movie? Remember the exchange that goes something like this:
Mom- "The twins almost have their Eagle."
Twins- "Mom almost has our Eagle."
NOT the point, people!
Other things I've seen that are NOT Eagle Projects in my mind:
-Mulching a church yard
-Painting a map of the US on a playground
-Blood drives (NO! NO! NO! NO!)
-Just about any collection project
-Building A picnic table/bench
-Painting fire hydrants on A street
... We've all seen them. Do I really need to go on?
.....
Please do not take this the wrong way. I think all of the above mentioned things are fantastic and worthwhile, however, I do not believe they are worthy of a potential Eagle Scout. Stop with all of the soft projects - keep the rank of Eagle where it should be.
Perhaps I'm picky but my brother's project is and will continue to be my standard of comparison for good projects. What did he do, you may ask? Well, he put in a cross-country course that was over a mile long through New Hampshire woods at the then brand new Cawley Middle School in Hooksett. Never been to NH? This will give you an idea of what sort of foliage had to be cleared & worked with.
Bryan would likely be mortified if he knew I was talking about him like this but let's get something straight: I am very proud of my older brother and what he did and the example he was to the younger scouts and all of the MANY volunteers and companies that contributed to this massive undertaking. Should we ever have a/some boy(s), they will know what their Uncle Bryan did and what it really means to be a card-carrying Eagle Scout.
(Heaven help those poor children if we have boys!)
You should ask your hubby about his project. He fixed up a playground to make it safer and cleaner for those who used it.
ReplyDeleteThat was a topic discussed before we were engaged. It's pretty important to me, in case you can't tell ;)
ReplyDeleteSo I have to bite--why the adamant stance about the sanctity of being an Eagle scout? I'm an Eagle and didn't do one of your "Not Eagle Scout" projects but I don't feel as strongly about other people's projects as you do. Also what's wrong with a blood drive? Blood is perpetually under supplied and organizing a blood drive that is well attended would be a great benefit to a community. (Also note, I didn't do a blood drive nor have I seen it done). As a side note, I think this post outs me as a closet reader of your blog--which I like a great deal.
ReplyDeleteI think a good Eagle project should serve a need that an existing infrastructure doesn't already serve. I remember Amanda Christensen's brother raised several TONS of sugar for the Manchester food pantry, as sugar is rarely donated but often needed.
ReplyDeleteBut then again, my project was downgraded from a computer lab to several intermediate steps I don't remember to a bench outside the Loeb school. But it was a granite bench and they liked it very much.