MINNEAPOLIS – June 17, 2009 – To describe one Minnesota teenager as "one in a million" is an understatement – by half. The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) today announced that Anthony Thomas, 16, of Lakeville, Minn., has been named the 2 millionth Eagle Scout since the first Eagle badge was awarded in 1912.
Eagle Scout is the highest attainable rank in Boy Scouting and requires years of dedication and hard work. Scouts must demonstrate proficiency in leadership, service, and outdoor skills at multiple levels before achieving the Eagle rank. Fewer than 5 percent of Boy Scouts earn the Eagle badge.
Anthony, who will be a junior at Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, Minn., has been involved in Scouting since age 7. A member of the Northern Star Council's Troop 471 at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville, Minn., he credits Scouting for his love of the outdoors and commitment to service. Adopted from Korea, Anthony volunteers as a counselor to Korean adoptees at Camp Choson. He also is active in his church and recently lettered in Service at his school. Anthony will spend part of his summer in New Orleans to help with ongoing cleanup work from Hurricane Katrina.
"Anthony represents everything that the Eagle badge stands for: character, integrity, leadership, and service to others," said Bob Mazzuca, Chief Scout Executive, Boy Scouts of America. "It is fitting that we honor the 2 millionth Eagle as we prepare to celebrate 100 years of service to the nation."
As the 2 millionth Eagle Scout, Anthony will serve as a youth ambassador for Scouting by participating in upcoming BSA's 100th Anniversary events such as the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif.; the BSA's annual Report to the Nation in Washington, D.C.; and the National Scout Jamboree in 2010.
"I'm honored and humbled to be selected as the 2 millionth Eagle Scout," Anthony said. "The Eagle rank represents excellence and leadership at every stage of life, and I will do my best to honor those Eagles who have come before me and to encourage other Scouts to pursue the Eagle Award."
In addition to the 21 merit badges required to earn Eagle rank, each Scout must complete an extensive service project that he plans, organizes, leads, and manages before his 18th birthday. For his project, Anthony designed and constructed devices to help train service dogs for Helping Paws of Minnesota, which provides dogs for disabled persons to further their independence. A key component of his project was to raise awareness for the organization and its mission. He accomplished this by arranging a service dog demonstration for his troop and coordinating a kick-off drive to encourage his fellow Scouts to earn their Disabilities Awareness merit badge.
Anthony’s parents, Jim and Cheryl Thomas, are active Scouting volunteers. Anthony also has a younger sister, Allison. In addition to Scouting, Anthony enjoys snowboarding, track, soccer, and playing the guitar.
"The fellowship of Eagles celebrates the milestone of the 2 millionth Eagle Scout," said Glenn Adams, president of the National Eagle Scout Association. "Each Eagle represents a life of service to others and to the communities where Eagles live and work. We congratulate Anthony Thomas and look forward to working with him to help encourage other Scouts to pursue their Eagle."
About the Boy Scouts of America
Serving nearly 4.1 million young people between the ages of 7 and 20 with more than 300 local councils throughout the United States and its territories, the Boy Scouts of America is the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training. For more information on the Boy Scouts of America, please visit www.scouting.org.
Facts about Eagle Scouts
![[Arrowmen In Action]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vuZEXNqfu1hdI-Y8dzjWpqowPdRSHwOxqECU2juMXWBGjTnTMR1X2jKTngGEllm9GbywPP_rwVDac77nNMQhadfPGASvMhg8ASOeSk4OVfu3HkU6pGBbBIH2sTpJXAHOzO8JGszycsFk-xReA=s0-d)
His mother says that his motivation comes from his faith. “Russell’s faith is a very big part of his life.” He is active in the youth group at St. John’s United Methodist Church where he helps take food to elderly church members, makes care packages for the homeless and helps host the vacation Bible school, among other things.
Despite his involvement in scouts and his commitment to many other organizations, Russell still uses the power of one to give back to his community…how can you use it to help others?
Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616
Great Alaska COuncil
Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Member
NSJ '05 WSJ '07 '11 Philmont AA '08
Mombasa city is the second largest city in Kenya and one of the Africa’s major tourist destinations with some of the best beaches in the world. It is located in Kenya’s Eastern coastline bordering the Indian Ocean. Mombasa is popular for its exotic beaches, diverse marine life, wild class hotels and friendly people. Mombasa is the most diverse town in all of Kenya .Kenyans of all ethnic backgrounds and religions can be found here: native blacks, Asian, Arabs who are Muslim, Christians Hindu and Buddhists. You can get to Mombasa by Bus around 8 hours drive, by air around 45 minutes flight or take 8 hours train. Moot participants will be ferried to Miritini either by bus or by train. Participants will be based at The Miritini Scouts Centre which is a 16 acres piece of beautiful land at the coastal strip. It is approximately 20 minutes drive from the Central Business District .The campsite can host about 2000 campers at any one given time. There is a small forest area suitable for meditation and retreat and the campsite is in a village set up and a diverse cultural neighborhood. There are green toilets and this is the targeted area for the Harambee Costa project where Italian scouts and German scout have on past occasions taken part in the work camps. The project is ongoing .The place is well secure and has a very friendly neighborhood and its becoming a magnificent scout centre that will host both local and international tourists.
Other activities will include:Machakos Scout camp is situated on a 10 acre piece of land .It has modern toilets and bathrooms and has a roof catchment natural rainwater .It is next to a prayer centre suitable for all religions .The security is perfect as it is next to a Administration police camp and because of the hilly terrain the place is excellent for expedition and hikes. It is easily accessible from Machakos town which is only 2 kilometers away from the Central Business District .It is also near the Machakos District hospital for any emergencies. Machakos town is 64 kilometers from Nairobi city and is the capital of Machakos District in Eastern province of Kenya. During the MOOT transport will be organized from Rowallan National camp to Machakos scouts camp. There is a place in one of the surrounding hills famous for ‘’Water flowing against gravity ‘’ it will be one of the fun activities for participants who will chose this centre among various other activities.
Machakos is one of the towns known to cater for the PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED and impaired people. Scouts have gone a long way in this aspect and in the department of Extension Scouts Programme by having affiliations to centers such as Machakos institute for the blind among others. The activities for Machakos are listed below, kindly study them carefully to enable you decide on this centre.
Siaya Scout center is situated on 2 acre piece of land and is very suitable for camping .The place is next to the Municipals stadium and a police station, hence this makes it to be very safe .The hospitals nearby are Siaya District Hospital and Nyanza Provincial Hospital .You can easily access Lake Victoria From the centre and the place has the best preschool in the District. It has a hostel facility with 8 rooms with a bed capacity of 32 persons. Nyandiwa can also be accessed from the centre, this is where we have one of the major projects by the Italian and Kenya Scouts. The place has a Teachers training College and an Irrigation project with the community. Scouts will have the opportunity to do fishing in Lake Victoria among other listed activities. Siaya is one of the twelve Districts that make up Nyanza province in the western part of Kenya. Nyangoma Kogelo also known as Kogelo village in Siaya is located near the equator, 60 kilometers (37mi) west –northwest of Kisumu, the provincial capital.
OBAMA FAME
Since 2006, the village received international attention, since it’s the hometown of Barrack Obama sr. the father of the current United States president BARRACK OBAMA, Sarah Obama, the paternal grandmother and some of their family members still live in the village. Scouts who chose this centre will get a chance to visit the home among various other activities.
The activities for Siaya are listed below, kindly study them carefully to enable you decide on this centre.
Moot participants will camp at the Kaiyaba Scouts Centre which is situated slightly before you reach Nyeri town. This is a three acre piece of land that can accommodate 1000 campers at any one given time It is one of the newest and most beautiful campsites in Kenya and participants who will chose here will leave an impact to it .Mode of transport is only by road. Nyeri town is a town in central province of Kenya and the administrative headquarters of the country’s Central Province and Nyeri district. The town is situated about 150 kilometers north of the Capital of Nairobi (About 2 hours drive). A number of renowned people have hailed from Nyeri most notably Mwai Kibaki who is the current Kenyan president and patron of Kenya Scout, Nobel peace prize winner wangari Maathai and Catherine Ndereba who is a multiple winner of various marathon races in the world. Nyeri is also the burial place of LORD BADEN POWEL OF GILWELL, the founder of the worldwide fraternity of the scout movement .He and his wife LADY OLIVE POWELL were buried in the same grave in pax tu cottage now a small museum that stands at the grounds of Outspan hotel.
The activities for Nyeri are listed below, kindly study them carefully to enable you decide on this centre.
The Rowallan National camp in situated in Nairobi city about 20 minutes drive from the Central Business District .This is where THE WORLD SCOUT BUREAU –AFRICA REGIONAL OFFICE, KENYA SCOUT ASSOCIATION HEAD QUARTERS and THE DEPORT (where we have team building activities being carried out) are located. The beauty of Rowallan camp is in the caves, hike routes, bird watching, friendly monkeys and baboons on site, seasonal river and Ngong sanctuary where we have the most indigenous flora in Kenya. The campsite area occupies a 30 acre piece of land leaving a 60 acre piece of land with a natural forest. The campsites have good running water taps, good toilets and bathrooms, modern swimming pool with excellent facilities, friendship corner where campers can have informal meetings in a good atmosphere, campsite kitchens and a large arena for all outdoor activities. There is also a big conference hall that is also suitable for indoor games, dormitories and Bandas (Small cubicles) for accommodating both large and small groups. Nairobi is the capital city and the largest town in Kenya.
All participants will assemble at the Rowallan camp and after the opening ceremony they will depart to the different expedition centers namely Machakos, Nyeri, Mombasa and Siaya for four days. The remaining days will be spent at the Rowallan camp. This is also an expedition centre and will be Main moot venue after all participants are back from the other expedition centers.
Activities at Rowallan Scout camp in Nairobi will include
The Boy Scouts of the Philippines have grown their own seedlings that will be planted for World Environment Day.
5th June 2009. On World Environment Day, Scouts have again demonstrated their commitment to working together to take positive action for the environment. The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) have partnered with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to encourage Scouts to take action in their local community.
UNEP have provided support to WOSM with a grant of $US100,000 that is being used to plant more than 65,000 trees spread across 10 National Scout Organizations to celebrate World Environment Day. Scouts will plant and continue to nurture these trees so that they can have an ongoing benefit for the environment. Participating countries include Mexico, the Philippines, Malaysia, Australia, India, Brazil, Hungary, Ethiopia, South Africa and Lebanon.
Under the banner: 'Your Planet Needs You! - UNite to combat climate change', World Environment Day for 2009 is officially being hosted by Mexico, with the Mexican Scouts being involved in a variety of activities to celebrate the day. The Scouts will be planting trees, holding environmental workshops, engaging in discussions with government and other youth organisations to share how to be more proactive with tackling climate change.
More Information:
The UNEP Tunza Youth Magazine for World Environment Day has been launched as a useful resource for young people to share and learn from each other about the environment. It can be downloaded here.
Please share your World Environment Day activities by registering on the World Environment Day website.
Are your Scouts involved in World Environment Day activities? Please share your stories with the World Scout Bureau by emailing Rod Abson.
Scouts in Guyana celebrating World Environment Day 2009
Thanks to all the following countries who helped on this very special Day including:
BURTON ROBERTS
For the seventh season of “Survivor,” the hit CBS show’s producers selected Burton Roberts from 40,000 applicants to live on Panama’s Pearl Islands. There, 20 million viewers watched him improvise and persevere against 15 other competitors. Roberts would spend 36 days living like a castaway, trying to “outwit, outplay, and outlast” his fellow contestants for a $1 million prize. Here, Townley hikes and talks with Roberts about how Scouting forged his resilience and his desire to compete.
I hike fast. I always have, probably due to some combination of innumerable cross-country races and competitions with other Scouts as we hiked the Appalachian Trail on countless weekends. For a while, it had seemed I was as familiar with the trail up North Georgia’s Blood Mountain as my own street in Atlanta. I learned to appreciate the view from the front on those hikes, and consequently I’m not accustomed to looking at someone else’s boots pounding the trail ahead of me. One mile into a trail several hours north of the Navy SEAL base in Coronado, however, the heels of Burton Roberts’ Salomons were seared into my eyes.
Weeks of travel had siphoned away time for staying in shape, and I wanted to see if my muscles had atrophied beyond recovery. In that sense, Burton served as an excellent test. He had a long list of triathlons under his belt and still traveled the world for mountaineering expeditions, cycling tours, dives, and hiking treks. Clearly, he was still in shape. The proving ground for my fitness would be the Santa Monica Mountains near Los Angeles.
During our hike, I learned that Burton grew up on a Texas farm and then moved to St. Louis where he joined Troop 492. For him, Scouting provided a channel for his overabundant energy. The merit badges and system of ranks at Troop 492 became great motivators and expanded his horizons immensely.
“Our Scout troop pushed us to get out in nature which is so important these days because television, the Internet, and video games can engulf kids,” he said. “To me, getting outside is important because it gets you away from the monotony—or the craziness—of life. It gives you time to think, clear your head.”
 Can you spot the real Scout? Castaways Burton Roberts, Darrah Johnson, Lillian Morris, Sandra Diaz-Twine, and Jon Dalton (from left) hold a tribal council meeting before Burton gets his game face on in "Survivor: Pearl Islands." |
In addition to getting him outside, Burton observed that Scouting gave him a vast array of skills that became lifelong interests. He discovered Scouting’s adventure in its expansive curriculum and its insistence that Scouts master skills in so many varied arenas: “That was such an amazing experience that so many people miss because they don’t have someone pushing this tremendous variety on them—camping, whitewater expeditions, merit badges of every kind.”
Burton’s résumé still lists Eagle Scout because he believes the rank defines him at a deep level. “You don’t have to get Eagle,” he explained, “but it encourages you to have that desire to reach the high levels and go after things throughout life, not settle and compromise on what you want to do. ‘Eagle Scout’ says here is a person who is not afraid, very motivated, willing to go out and do whatever it takes to get something done, and willing to take on adventure and challenges and not stop until the goal is reached.”
Burton stopped to negotiate a creek bed, and took a moment to listen to the quiet of the canyon.
Occasional breezes and scattered birds provided the only sounds other than our boots and conversation. The pause made him think. “You know, those skills and the love of acquiring those skills led me straight to ‘Survivor.’
 His 15 minutes of fame as a competitor on "Survivor" now history, Burton Roberts applies the same spirit to other exciting pursuits. |
“You have to understand that it’s a cut-throat game where unfortunately there’s backstabbing and manipulating,” he explained after we’d discussed his success in navigating the selection process. “You’re dealing with strategic game-play 24 hours a day, wondering who is in your alliance, who is lying to you, who is going to vote you off. Is my alliance together? Is Alvin lying to me? If he is, what should I do? That’s what kept me up at night.
“But beyond all that,” he continued, “[‘Survivor’] was living in the most pure environment you could. You had the resources there, and you couldn’t get anything else, so if you didn’t catch food for a day, you didn’t eat. I’d go swim around in our lagoon every day, partly to be out there spear fishing to get food, but really I just loved it.”
On “Survivor,” Burton might as well have been returning to a Scout expedition. Fires? He could start them. Shelters? He could build them. Spear fishing? He improvised—successfully. “It was amazing,” he said, “to see people who had no idea how to make a fire or keep a fire going. Or little things like knowing you have to boil water before you drink it. In one challenge, we had to tie sticks together to reach a certain key. No one else could very effectively lash sticks together, especially under pressure. But I’d done that countless times in Scouts.
“I could have done away with the mosquitoes and backstabbing,” Burton said as we resumed our hike on the far side of the creek, “but being outdoors and living on your own was really special. And the older you get, the less opportunity you have for things like that, and the less people do.”
“Survivor” represented one challenge, but Burton joked that 15 minutes of fame is an accurate phrase. He enjoyed every second of the show, and then applied that same spirit to other pursuits. At every chance, this graduate of Southern Methodist University and Northwestern’s prestigious Kellogg School of Management kayaks, scuba dives, snowboards, sky dives, skis, hikes, and competes in triathlons. He’d recently completed his fourth Escape from Alcatraz triathlon in San Francisco Bay. He found a real challenge in the notoriously frigid water, and signed up for the Bay’s Shark Fest Swim, a 1.5-mile swim from Alcatraz Island to the mainland. He completed the event five times, once without a wetsuit. “Everyone told me it was probably the dumbest thing I’d done,” he said, “but I wanted to challenge myself and set a goal and did the best I could to prepare for the freezing water. Of course, I was cold for the rest of the day!”
 His 15 minutes of fame as a competitor on "Survivor" now history, Burton Roberts applies the same spirit to other exciting pursuits. |
Burton took adventure to a new level when he entered the legendary Eco-Challenge—an adventure race [that] covers more than 300 miles and has been televised on MTV, the Discovery Channel and as part of ESPN’s X Games. It would prove to be his most difficult test so far.
On the wild Pacific island of Fiji, Burton and several teammates competed with scores of others, racing through jungles from point to point and relying on their outdoor knowledge and survival instincts. (To learn the details and results of Burton’s amazing race, read Spirit of Adventure).
Burton led his rookie team across Fiji and learned to [again] value Scouting’s “Be Prepared” motto.
He explained that [being prepared] is not necessarily about having the right tools or equipment: “The more you’ve done, the more prepared you’ll be. It’s about pushing yourself and seeing where your breaking points are. Once you’ve gotten to that breaking point, you might want to back off, but you realize, ‘Okay, I’ve been there before.’ You know you can go beyond it.
“In racing, and in basically anything you do, experience makes the difference. Not experience in paddling or biking per se, but experience in attacking a challenge and overcoming it. That’s what I mean by ‘being prepared.’ ”
RON YOUNG
After Iraqis shot down Ron Young’s helicopter in hostile territory, he spent 23 harrowing days in captivity before being rescued. To get his story, Townley caught up with this veteran adventurer for a run on a wooded trail along Georgia’s Chattahoochee River and learned that the young soldier never abandoned the values he’d learned in Scouting.
Perched in the front seat of his Apache Longbow attack helicopter, Ron Young flew north into Iraq. It was March 23, 2003, two days after the commencement of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Silver light from the Arabian moon illuminated the suburbs surrounding the town of Karbala and painted the landscape with the shadows of 18 American helicopters, which were skimming treetops and pounding homes and fields with the downwash from their rotors.
As the helicopters flew farther north, red tracers from Iraqi antiaircraft installations began streaking upward, sporadically at first. Then everything changed. “All of a sudden, all hell broke loose,” Ron explained. “I don’t know how else to describe it; just a wall of lead. [It] didn’t let up for 25 solid minutes.” A bullet finally punched into the fuselage, and the Apache lost its weapons system. Ron continued to guide Dave Williams, the back-seat pilot, through the maze of tracers as best he could. “I’m screaming at Dave, ‘Turn left, turn left! Okay, turn right, turn right!’” the 26-year-old combat rookie remembered.
“All this time,” Ron continued, “the Iraqis are getting better and better. Bullets are getting closer and closer. I’m still yelling at [Dave], ‘Faster, faster, lower, lower!’ All of a sudden these tracers come up to us, and the aircraft shakes, shudders, yaws to the left, and leans back. I said, ‘Dave, what are you doing? Don’t slow down!’ He screamed at me that we lost an engine. I start smelling smoke and powder. Dave screams out, ‘They got me in the foot!’ At that point, I pretty much knew we were going down.”
Their Apache slammed its tail into the field below, and then its nose came crashing down, mercifully leaving the aircraft upright. The two crewmembers scrambled out of the cockpit and started running. “We’re pilots and we’re on the ground,” Ron explained. “That’s a baaad situation! We probably ran 20 feet and Dave screams, ‘My foot, my foot!’ Dave’s 5 feet 9 inches; I’m 6 feet 4 inches, and I grab him by his vest and start screaming at him and tried to instill the same fear of God in him that I’ve got in me. There ain’t no ‘I can’t run’ at this point!”
 Getting shot down in Iraq just stoked chopper pilot Ron Young's quest for adventure: on a trail, on a bike, or in the mountains. |
The two pilots sprinted through the chaos around them and dove into a ditch as an American jet laid bombs into a tree line close by. Shooting and explosions were everywhere as Iraqi forces aimed up at American aircraft, and the aircraft rained ordnance down at the ground. The two fugitives hurtled through fields and waded across irrigation ditches, trying to put distance between themselves and the search parties forming at their disabled helicopter.
“Finally,” Ron said, “I heard something and hit the ground and looked up and saw a bunch of Iraqis moving toward us. I’ve got this 9 millimeter pistol, and I remember thinking that I didn’t want Dave to be mad at me for getting him killed. ‘What do you want to do Dave,’ I asked. ‘Want to take off running, want me to start shooting, or want to give ourselves up?’ They’ll kill us if we start running, I have 15 pistol rounds against an Iraqi patrol with AK-47s, so I really couldn’t work with that, and we felt the only way to live through it was to give ourselves up.”
Minutes later the [Iraqi] patrol reached the downed aviators. A boot connected with Ron’s head, and he blacked out. When he came to, he found himself bound, lying on the ground, and looking at Dave. A soldier had pulled Dave’s head back by the hair and had a knife pressed against his throat. Ron instantly understood what they were facing.
The patrol dragged their bound captives from one house to another, trying to avoid the bombings. The treatment was rough, and the interrogations sometimes brutal. The Iraqi troops were scared and angry. Regardless of what decisions had been made to cause the war, the reality was this: Their hometown was under attack. American bombs endangered their families, their homes, their businesses, and their lives. The two airmen they had captured had been dropping those bombs.
To make them even angrier, the bombing became more intense over the next week. “Finally, I was thinking this is it—the real it. Being in the cell after getting interrogated, realizing we’re getting close to these guys just executing us and walking away. Every day the bombing was getting worse and worse. Everything was going up around us.”
Fortunately for Ron, death never came, although he spent each day thinking [that] he wouldn’t see the next sunrise.
As we took a break from our run, I asked him, “Really, did you think you’d make it out [of Iraq] alive?
“Oh, no,” he said without hesitating. “I was just hoping it’d be quick.
“You know a lot of people would think that it was enough adventure for anybody for a lifetime,” I commented, looking out at the river, knowing full well that Ron has only picked up his pace since returning from Iraq.
“No, what you find is exactly the opposite,” Ron said, giving [his Labrador] Mabry an appreciated rub behind the ears. “It’s like the same feeling I get just before I go head-first over the handlebars on my mountain bike!”
“I always had that streak where I had to have something to keep the adrenaline going,” he explained, remembering his days in Scouting. “From the time I was young, I really saw my life being about the quality of experiences I’d have. The only things you’ll always carry are experiences, so you always need to challenge yourself.
“When I was in China [as a student], I felt like I was alive. When I was on the river [as a rafting guide] I felt like I was alive. When I studied engineering, I felt like I was alive because I was achieving something and pushing myself forward. That’s an Eagle Scout trait, I think, wanting to be alive like that.”
Ron’s experiences in Scouting had shown him what life could offer and reminded him how he wanted to live. “This’ll sound weird,” he said, “but I do things based on the questions: ‘Will my grandkids want to hear about this?’ ‘Will they be intrigued by this person who is their grandfather?’”
(Read more about Ron’s adventures at home and abroad in Spirit of Adventure.)
As Townley and Ron neared the end of their run along the river, Ron reflected on his ordeal and the challenges faced by his fellow soldiers, including a friend who lost his life in combat.
“There are a lot of people in our armed services that are willing to make those kinds of sacrifices on behalf of people who will never even know or understand the sacrifices people make for them on a daily basis. And the reason they do that is because they grew up with certain values, like what we take from the Scout Oath and Scout Law.”
Ron almost didn’t live to see the age of 26, so he is one of those rare people who truly appreciate each day. Townley found his story and appreciation for Scouting particularly important, and saw those values echoed in many other Eagle Scouts. One was Burton Roberts.
Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616
Great Alaska COuncil
Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Member
NSJ '05 WSJ '07 '11 Philmont AA '08
