Eagle Scout Court of Honor ideas?

[teachingmyown]

We are planning the Court of Honor for our son to receive his Eagle Scout rank and I was wondering if anyone here had any tips or ideas to make it successful, stress-free, memorable, etc?

 

[Rose Pink]

My son didn't want anything special (he was 18) but I did anyway and he really appreciated it. Since the rank of Eagle is about leadership, I invited people who knew him at different ages of his life to come and share an incident that showcased his leadership as he was growing up. The guests included a clergyman, a Cub Scout leader, a Scout leader, a junior high teacher, a high school teacher and the director of his performing group. The group came and sang the national anthem. It was all a surprise to my son and he was deeply touched. He said he didn't realize he had been so highly thought of. My brother spoke about the meaning of the Eagle Rank. The men who had achieved Eagle rank formed a circle and invited him into the Eagle's Nest. We had refreshments for all. I think the key is to keep it moving. Each guest was asked to keep comments to under two minutes. The whole event was less than an hour.

 

[Cat]

Congratulations to both of you, Teachingmyown and Rose Pink. You are obviously both wonderful mothers to have raised such mature and hardworking sons, so take a bow!

Rose that sounds like it was a perfect gathering - very creative!

My husband is an Eagle Scout, and he was always disappointed that our son never cared about scouting.

 

[travelbug]

My son received his eagle badge 5 years ago. We did the same ceremony that 'Rose' described. His grandpa and his Dad also spoke. Ryan was never the 'cool' guy in scouting, but he was faithful and sometimes had to just slog through. I was deeply moved how his past scout leaders and some of his peers recognized his strength in leadership, his kind soul and hard work. He was a big asset to the troup.

His eagle scout status has gotten him jobs and schools that he may not have gotten.

Congrats to all the Moms here. It takes committment from both son and parents!

Marilyn

 

[gomom]

My oldest son had his court of honor on the Navy ship the Antietam. It was great. He belonged to a big troop with lots of Eagles so they had the ceremony down pat. It was amazing to watch the rehearsal. One of the older boys was the "voice of the Eagle" and he kind of moderated things with the microphone, from the back. You couldn't see him. They had a scout trail, with a scout of each rank holding the emblem of that rank and as Derek moved from scout to scout voice of the Eagle said something about the rank. Derek's father, an Eagle also, led Derek in the law or oath or something. They had us send invitations to lots of dignitaries, Gov. of Calif., Pres of US, Secretary of Navy, astronauts, congressmen, etc. they had a list, most of whom were Eagle Scouts. Most sent nice letters of congratulations, and he has a folder of these great letters. We picked several of the letters to be read at the ceremony. We contacted our Congressman and ordered a flag and asked that it be flown over the capitol on the day of the ceremony. I think the congressman sent a letter that was read to Derek about the flag. There was also an Eagles nest, it was amazing to see how many guests were Eagles. His father and I awarded him his badge. We had 2 pastors there one gave and invocation and the other a benediction. There was a receiving line, cake and a tour of the ship. The ceremony itself maybe took 45 min.

Having the court of honor on the ship was my yourger son's idea, but by the time he made Eagle the Naval Shipyard in Long Beach was closed. He opted to not have a court of honor. I wish we had done something though.

Congratulations on your son's accomplishment. Clarice

 

[riverside]

My son became an Eagle Scout when he was in 8th grade. We had a formal ceremony for him and the highlight was a speech I made as his mom. I wrote down all the things I remembered from his journey through scouting and did a "I remember when". It was humerous and touching. The other scouts afterwards were all talking about all the times I had mentioned and were telling stories of their own. I was very involved with scouting (a leader for 2 years) and spent lots of time helping out so I had lots of memories. It made it very personal and even though I don't like to get up in front of people I'm glad I did it.

 

[nightnurse613]

My husband was in Scouting for years (an Eagle Scout-but it was signed by Richard Nixon so, I'm not sure if that counts!). I actually saw an Eagle Scout presentation he put on. It was a slide show done to a John Wayne rendition of You Ask Me Why I am Love This Country. It would be a lot easier today when you can cut and paste from the Internet. He had slides of Plymouth Rock and other things mentioned in the story. Not a dry eye in the house. None of our sons has shown an interest either which is ok with me since that gives me an excuse to keep him out of committee meetings, etc. :ignore:

 

[EAM]

Eagle Court of Honor Book

This book might have some good ideas:

http://www.eaglebook.com/

Also, a post on the forums at www.scouter.com might generate even more responses than an post on this forum.

 

[teachingmyown]

Thanks for the responses. Wow...I'd love to have it on a battleship but there aren't many docked on the riverbank here in Nashville. Seriously...that really does sound like a wonderful experience! You all have given some great tips. Now the hard part will be narrowing down the projected plan to make it fit into a reasonable time slot.

Thanks again!!

 

[Don]

Congratulations to you both. Your Scouting district office might have a store with it and you can find a book of ceremonies there that has several eagle ceremonies. That's what we used when my oldest made it.
Also write to The President, your state and federal senator's and representatives and also your governor. Many will send letters or cards of congratulations. We also got the mayor to come to his ceremony and talk.