Last Wednesday night, grandson Nevin had to go before the Council of Honors of the Boy Scouts of America. He played down the significance of the inquisition but his journey to become an Eagle Scout hung in the balance. His Mom and Dad were present and the philosophic questioning lasted about a half hour. And the result was …….
But wait, scouting is not an Andrews tradition. Chris was in scouts for awhile when we lived in Sheboygan and his scoutmaster was Bob Schmidt. Bob was a burly policeman who was proud to have his own son in Scouts. Chris earned a few badges and I remember attending an award ceremony for some achievement. Chris did not make scouting a passion. He did other things like pound drums in the Top Hat marching band and chase girls (I think one was Shelby Jr.)
My personal scouting experiences were not good. My Cub scout troop met in the basement of the local old three story elementary school in Plymouth. The cub scoutmaster would come to the school, open the doors and lead us to a room in the basement. His rules were that we were to stay in the room, no exceptions. Well one night my buddies and I thought it would be great to play “hide and seek” through out the old building especially when it got dark. The scoutmaster noticed we were gone from the room and he was furious. He found each of us “rascals”. We got a personal escourt to the front door, a real boot in the butt and told not to come back. I think my body left the ground when he booted me. My story to my parents was that I didn’t like cubscouts and I didn’t want to go any more. They never pushed the issue but some-how I think they knew what had happened. Scouting was not in my future.
Now back to Nevin. He has a temper and sometimes puts it on display. He does things that you’d like to say to Nevin “what the hell were you thinking”? Then he turns around and accomplishes something that brings a tear to your eye and you shake your head in disbelief. Wednesday night completed his scouting journey. He did what no Andrews has ever done. He achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. He passed the Council’s inquisition. It is a significant benchmark in his life and it is loaded with good stuff. Citizenship training. Community Service. Character Development. Personal Fitness.
So my personal congratulations go out to Nevin Andrews. He has built himself a tremendous foundation and he has the right to feel really proud. He has achieved what few scouts ever achieve. He joins James Lovell, one of the first NASA astronauts as an eagle scout as well as a long list of other famous people. He is the best of the best.
Nevin can spread his wings and soar like an Eagle. Go Nevin!
Love,
Dad (Just Chas.)