As my son and his friends were nearing the end of their scouting journey, the mothers of the 3 boys got together to plan their Eagle Scout celebration. Having started out together in Cub Scouts and going all of the way through to Boy Scouts together and earning their rank of Eagle Scout within a month of one another ( 2 in August and 1 in September), the group felt it was only fitting that they celebrate this prestigious achievement together as well.
I will never forget one of the first things the Scoutmaster said to us parents. "My goal as Scoutmaster is to try and get each boy to the rank of Eagle Scout before the 3 W's hit them." Of course we were all asking ourselves... so what are these 3 W's? He proceeded to clarify that the W's stood for Women, Wheels and Work. It was definitely a lot of work for the boys... pardon me... young men... to take on in only 4 years, but it would not have been possible without the efforts of the parents and the leadership of the Scoutmaster.
With that I set out to create an award that the boys could present to their Scoutmaster that summed up just how import of a role he plays in helping to shape boys into young men. As we are in the great state of Indiana, the hoosier state, I began with our state as my canvas. From there an appropriate quote was found and modified to fit the situation at hand. The name of the Scoutmaster, the troop number and the 3 Eagles were placed next. Feeling I needed to add a bit more of a scout motif, I pulled in a previously vectored image of the Boy Scout emblem and added a pair to balance things out. I then topped it off with some black paint to pull out the details, 6 coats of Formby's Tung Oil and a custom easel style stand.
I think it goes without saying that the Scoutmaster was extremely grateful and a bit choked up by the gesture. I felt simply blessed to have been able to be a part of their celebration.
