The Eagle Has Been Awarded

This past Saturday was a very proud day for me and my wife, Mary Beth.  Our 17 year-old son, Jack was awarded the highest achievement in Boy Scouting -- the rank of Eagle Scout.  Less than five percent of all boys that join scouting attain the rank of Eagle. It is a very difficult journey that takes commitment, perseverance, organization and leadership skills to accomplish.  The actual construction phase of the project was completed in the fall and since then Jack had to raise the funds to pay for the materials, write up the project using the Eagle Project Workbook, and lastly, defend the project to an Eagle Board of Review.  It's taken over a year from start to finish but now it is over.

On Saturday, a ceremony was held at our parish hall for Jack and ten other scouts from his troop that have earned the Eagle Rank over the last 3 years.  The were presented with proclamations from the U.S. Congress, the State Legislature and the town of Armonk.  Each had a day named in their honor in the county of Westchester.  Each young man received his official Eagle Neckerchief and the all important Eagle Pin.

Many people believe that the Eagle Award is a predictor of future success.  While less than half of 1 percent of all men become an Eagle Scout, many highly successful men are Eagle Scouts:

• William Bennett, Former Secretary of Education
• Bill Bradley, Pro basketball star and U.S. Sneator from New Jersey
• William Dannemeyer, U.S. Representative from California
• Arthur Eldred, (First Eagle Scout)
• Gerald Ford, 38th President of the U.S.
• Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Governor of Louisiana
• James Lovell - Astronaut
• Richard Lugar, U.S. Senator from Indiana
• Sam Nunn, U.S. Senator from Georgia
• Ellison Onizuka, Challenger Astronaut  
• Samuel Pierce, Former Secreatry of HUD
• William Sessions, Former FBI Director
• Steven Spielberg, Film Director/Producer
• Wallace Stegner, Pulitzer Prize winning Author
• Percy Sutton, Chairman of CBS
• John Tesh, TV Celebrity
• James Stewart - Actor
• James Brady, Former Press Secretary to President Reagan
• William C. DeVries, M.D., Transplanted first artificial heart
• Walter Cronkite - Journalist, T.V. commentator
• J. Willard Marriott, Jr., President, Marriott Corporation
• H. Ross Perot, Chairman, EDS Corp.  

So Jack's off to a great start and his parents could not be more proud of him.  I want to congratulate him for a fantastic accomplishment.  Well done son, well done.

Check out this site dedicated to the project.