Eagle Letters
James H. Moss (JHMoss@LAWYERNET.COM)
Mon, 26 Jul 1999 16:34:34 -0600
I have been thinking again. This usually means I am about to get myself in
a lot of trouble.
I have sat through a couple of Eagle Courts of honor where the Scoutmaster
or some other dignitary read through stacks of congratulatory letters from
people the Scout did not know and a lot of people in the audience did now
know or care about.
Congratulatory letters are not part of the Eagle Contest. "I had 56 letters
from computers from people who had no idea who I was or what I had
accomplished." I am sure that because of the desire to win this game, most
of these people are kicking this out by copies. "Dear Eagle Winner." "Dear
Fremont County Pie Baking Winner."
What happens to those letters. Mom puts them in a scrap book and the kid
leaves them at home till he is much older and thumbs through them. But they
have no meaning. The pictures of my friends mean more to me than the letter
I got from Richard M. Nixon.
We have seen several posts from people who will no longer send letters
because of the volume.
Let's quit wasting paper and "famous" people's time and get letters that
will mean something for the Scout. His interests, his career plans his
future goals. As a young man looking to be a pilot, a letter from the
Pillsbury Dough Boy means nothing. But a letter from a guy around the block
telling me how Scouting helped him fly, would mean much more.
Not only that, we would save a few more trees.
Speaking of trees, let's not start any forest fires on this one!
Yours in Scouting
Jim Moss
12340 W. Alameda Pkwy., Lakewood, CO 80228-2841
Eagle Class of 69, Vigil, Denver Area Council
