Re: Letter to Eagle Scout
Lisa Varner (lvarner@FREENET.COLUMBUS.OH.US)
Fri, 24 Mar 1995 12:48:11 -0500
Mike-
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your letter to an Eagle Scout.
This procedure you used to personalize your letter can also be used to
help develope a presentation speech for Gold and Silver awards. It has
ceratinly got me thinking.
> I write because I LOVE TO DO SO.
....and you do it so well.
> I know very little about many of the Scouts I write. I depend on the
> person asking me to write the letter to tell me something about the
> Scout. Not the "usual stuff": good student, funny kid, did a good
> service project, leader of his Troop (or Explorer Post), outstanding
> Scout. Those are qualities of ALL Eagle Scouts (Okay. So the
> "funny" part may NOT encompass ALL Eagles...but I would like to think
> that ALL Eagle Scouts have developed a positive sense of humor).
Maybe they just need to be reminded of the funny side they have (sometimes
we all do as we get caught up in life!).
> What I want to know is something special about this Eagle Scout. Like
> the fact that his service project was so great that the Governor of
> his state flew in and congradulated him in person; that his Troop is
> 100 members large and that he served as leader of all 100; that he is
> the first Eagle Scout in the history of his Troop or Post. Something
> special that I can "key in on" and associate my own Scouting
> background on. I also want to know something about him OUTSIDE of
> Scouting: that he's a fair baseball player; that he plays the piano or
> the flute (and according to my Godsister, it takes a LOT of concentration
> to play the flute!); that he's a fair student and that while he loves
> Geography and History, that perhaps he better steer away from becoming a
> chemical engineer.
These are things that will remind the scout the award is being given to
them as a person for what they have contributed to their projects, not
just the fact that they met basic requirements. These are the
observations the scout will remember that you are talking to him(her) and
not just reading a generic at'a boy speech.
Not only do you remind the scout of who he is, where he has come from, and
what he has accomplished, but you also remind the scout of the times he
had in his life that it may have been difficult to be a scout or be
differnent and stand up for what he knew was right. You point out to him
what he has gained by being his own person, finding his own way, by
leading not following. You also remind him to pass along what he has
learned and help others to stand on their own. You remind him that this
should not be the end in his developement, but the beginning.
Consider this one saved!
Lisa Varner << lvarner@freenet.columbus.oh.us >>
Haven't been there. Don't want to go. Don't need another t-shirt!
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
