CHANGING OF THE GUARD
What does one get when combining two-to-four boxes full of fried chicken, a spread of all sorts of side dishes and deserts, lots of hungry scouts, and a bunch of awards and patches that need to go out and won’t transmit through the Internet no matter how hard people try? The answer: a Court of Honor. Three times each year (Winter, Spring, and Fall), the troop holds a large picnic-like meeting at the church or, in the Spring only, at Moundview Park, and if one wants to see a buffet table of food disappear in less than 30 minutes, the start of any Court of Honor is the place to be.
At the latest Court of Honor, most of the usual was in place: large color guard with following grace to open the “Court;” rank advancement presented through the Trail to Eagle around the hall; and the Special Presentations - all usual traits of any Court of Honor. For this CoH, however, there had to be made a specific speech for Steven LaCount, who was awarded his Eagle Scout patch at the end of the Trail to Eagle. Following the Trail, Mrs. Carwile distributed merit badges scouts had earned in between this CoH and the last one.
It was after merit badges had been passed out, that the slideshow was to be shown. After a brief introduction for the slideshow by yours truly, the creator of the slideshow; Mr. Katt, was in the control booth to make sure everything went well in starting the show. For the next fifteen minutes, a quick review of the just-past year was presented to the audience, including events that not everybody had gone on (or seen). And some other events that certain people would just as soon forget ever happened, much less be displayed via projector to most of the troop.
Following the slideshow and the appointment of new youth staff members, there were the Special Presentations. There were quite a few. Most of the early ones were special awards and patches, such as the patch for going on the Survivor campout back in fall of last year, and so on. Other presentations was the assigning of new Assistant Scoutmasters, making clear some new troop policies, and talking about upcoming events such as the Lock-In at the Beechmont Racquet Club. Towards the end of the presentations was a little anthology given by me, as I was leaving the post of Historian, which I had held since around February of last year. I gave thanks to everybody for the great support they had all given me over the course of my two terms and I wish my successor to the post of Historian: Jack Van Keuren, that he will be as well received by everybody in the post as I was. I was slightly confused at the start of my speech, only later to learn that everybody was laughing at the projector screen being undecided if it wanted to go up or stay down and everybody except me seeing it go up and down with the oblivious speaker continuing on with his speech.
To close almost every mass-troop event, a CoH being no exception, there is a Scoutmaster’s “minute” which the Scoutmaster, in this case Dr. Reynolds, can give a “short” talk about anything he wants to talk about. For this CoH, he changed things up a little; instead of outright talking, he demonstrated (with his son, Avery, to help out) how easy it was to get the Tenderfoot rank, with some necessary cheats (such as not having to repeat some basic physical activities after thirty days). Things got real interesting when of all people, Dr. Reynolds screwed up on the second line of the Scout Oath! He quickly recovered and eventually got through the whole list of Tenderfoot requirements (although how he completed the “Scoutmaster Conference” might bring up questions about his sanity if he’s having conversations with himself), but messing up on the Oath might be something he won’t be able to live down for a few weeks, give or take. The “Minute” had taken around 10-15 minutes, a humorous juxtaposition to Eliot H.’s really short closing prayer that lasted all of 15 seconds.
Note by the writer: If it hasn’t been said before; Jack van Keuren took over as Historian at this CoH, so this will be my last Historian’s report for Troop 281. I have accepted the job as the Historian/Scribe for Troop 1314, the National Jamboree troop that 281 is part of, so this isn’t the last of my reports, just a break after writing these things for almost a year. I’d like to thank Mr. Rechtin, again, for all of his invaluable help in getting these reports edited and posted onto their own special blog, and to thank everyone who has been saved the trouble of having to interrogate their own scouts as if giving them a root canal just for basic information about troop events. Please remember to try and get a copy of my first term’s reports from the troop website (there are instructions there under the “forms” section), and for those who like my writings so much that they can’t wait for the sequel, there should be a second collection of all the other reports of my second term coming out later this year, so keep an eye out for it.
Until next time,
Ben Hallenbeck, 281 Historian
Editor’s note: Ben has what some teachers refer to as a “voice” - a unique and memorable style of writing that transcends and enriches content. That voice is getting stronger, more articulate, and even more creative. No matter what he does, I hope he continues to write. It’s been a lot of fun to edit his work and see those skills develop.
At the latest Court of Honor, most of the usual was in place: large color guard with following grace to open the “Court;” rank advancement presented through the Trail to Eagle around the hall; and the Special Presentations - all usual traits of any Court of Honor. For this CoH, however, there had to be made a specific speech for Steven LaCount, who was awarded his Eagle Scout patch at the end of the Trail to Eagle. Following the Trail, Mrs. Carwile distributed merit badges scouts had earned in between this CoH and the last one.
It was after merit badges had been passed out, that the slideshow was to be shown. After a brief introduction for the slideshow by yours truly, the creator of the slideshow; Mr. Katt, was in the control booth to make sure everything went well in starting the show. For the next fifteen minutes, a quick review of the just-past year was presented to the audience, including events that not everybody had gone on (or seen). And some other events that certain people would just as soon forget ever happened, much less be displayed via projector to most of the troop.
Following the slideshow and the appointment of new youth staff members, there were the Special Presentations. There were quite a few. Most of the early ones were special awards and patches, such as the patch for going on the Survivor campout back in fall of last year, and so on. Other presentations was the assigning of new Assistant Scoutmasters, making clear some new troop policies, and talking about upcoming events such as the Lock-In at the Beechmont Racquet Club. Towards the end of the presentations was a little anthology given by me, as I was leaving the post of Historian, which I had held since around February of last year. I gave thanks to everybody for the great support they had all given me over the course of my two terms and I wish my successor to the post of Historian: Jack Van Keuren, that he will be as well received by everybody in the post as I was. I was slightly confused at the start of my speech, only later to learn that everybody was laughing at the projector screen being undecided if it wanted to go up or stay down and everybody except me seeing it go up and down with the oblivious speaker continuing on with his speech.
To close almost every mass-troop event, a CoH being no exception, there is a Scoutmaster’s “minute” which the Scoutmaster, in this case Dr. Reynolds, can give a “short” talk about anything he wants to talk about. For this CoH, he changed things up a little; instead of outright talking, he demonstrated (with his son, Avery, to help out) how easy it was to get the Tenderfoot rank, with some necessary cheats (such as not having to repeat some basic physical activities after thirty days). Things got real interesting when of all people, Dr. Reynolds screwed up on the second line of the Scout Oath! He quickly recovered and eventually got through the whole list of Tenderfoot requirements (although how he completed the “Scoutmaster Conference” might bring up questions about his sanity if he’s having conversations with himself), but messing up on the Oath might be something he won’t be able to live down for a few weeks, give or take. The “Minute” had taken around 10-15 minutes, a humorous juxtaposition to Eliot H.’s really short closing prayer that lasted all of 15 seconds.
Note by the writer: If it hasn’t been said before; Jack van Keuren took over as Historian at this CoH, so this will be my last Historian’s report for Troop 281. I have accepted the job as the Historian/Scribe for Troop 1314, the National Jamboree troop that 281 is part of, so this isn’t the last of my reports, just a break after writing these things for almost a year. I’d like to thank Mr. Rechtin, again, for all of his invaluable help in getting these reports edited and posted onto their own special blog, and to thank everyone who has been saved the trouble of having to interrogate their own scouts as if giving them a root canal just for basic information about troop events. Please remember to try and get a copy of my first term’s reports from the troop website (there are instructions there under the “forms” section), and for those who like my writings so much that they can’t wait for the sequel, there should be a second collection of all the other reports of my second term coming out later this year, so keep an eye out for it.
Until next time,
Ben Hallenbeck, 281 Historian
Editor’s note: Ben has what some teachers refer to as a “voice” - a unique and memorable style of writing that transcends and enriches content. That voice is getting stronger, more articulate, and even more creative. No matter what he does, I hope he continues to write. It’s been a lot of fun to edit his work and see those skills develop.
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