How to do an Eagle Court of Honor
– The things we wish we knew ahead of time –
Earning the rank of Eagle Scout is a huge accomplishment, congratulations to you and your son! Now it’s time to plan the award ceremony, aka Eagle Court of Honor (CoH). Note that the Scout’s family is responsible for the entire event. The notes below will guide you in this endeavor, though it is also highly advisable to talk to the families who went through this experience just before you. Let the process begin!
Outline
1. Letters of Commendation
2. Location and Date
3. Eagle podium
4. Speakers, Scouts & Volunteers
5. Spreading the Word
6. Decorations and Technical Set-Up
7. Slideshow
8. Script
9. Programs
10. Set-up (specific to LAYC)
11. Day of the Court of Honor
12. Aftermath
1. Letters of Commendation
Start early – as soon as possible. If you plan to request commendation letters from dignitaries, allow 12 weeks for getting the response back. In the past, local officials (governor, mayor, etc.) were able to respond within 3-4 weeks but it takes longer for state and federal officials. Sample commendation request letters and a list of dignitaries can be found on the troop website.
2. Location and Date
Los Altos Youth Center (LAYC) is often used for an Eagle CoH. To reserve LAYC contact Los Altos Recreational Department at (650) 947-2790 (current representative Janelle Romo at Janelle.Romo@ci.los-altos.ca.us) to check availability on the desirable date and time. It may be possible to use LAYC for Eagle CoH at no cost if the troop has no other special needs for it, contact the scoutmaster to confirm that. To reserve LAYC you would need to go to the Los Altos Recreation Department (97 Hillview Avenue, Los Altos) in person and submit the paperwork and safety deposit. When reserving the time, allot at least two hours to set up and an hour afterwards to clean up. There is a sample of the rental form on the troop website.
3. Eagle podium
To request the Eagle podium contact the Pacific Skyline Council (G. Pikich
gpikich@bsamail.org or (650) 327-5900) at Lucie Stern Community Center (1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto). You will need a truck to transport it and a couple of people to load it. There are many boy scout troops in the area so reserve the podium early (as soon as you have set a date). Ask for the new podium donated by Troop 37.
4. Speakers, Scouts & Volunteers
You will need to approach adult troop leadership and boy scouts to secure their cooperation and time to fulfill the following roles and/or address the following topics:
Adults:
· MC
· Rank advancement
· Outdoor skills
· Leadership and Service
· Presentation of the Eagle award (usually the scoutmaster)
· Meaning of the Eagle award (optionally an older scout)
-- Make sure you provide your Eagle Board of Review date to the adult in charge of Troopmaster. This is important to keep troop records accurate and up to date.
Scouts:
· SPL to conduct troop assembly and call the flag ceremony
· Flag bearers (2 scouts)
· Honor Escort (3+ older scouts, friends of the new Eagle)
· Perpetual Eagle (this is the duty of the last scout to have his Eagle CoH)
· Presentation of Mother’s Bouquet (traditionally a younger scout)
From outside the troop:
· Remarks on Eagle Project (benefactor/sponsor)
· Personal Remarks (teachers, mentors, religious leaders, etc.)
To request the presence of a district representative, contact Elisabeth Thompson or Henry Reyes at Pacific Skyline Council, (650) 327-5900. The district representative is responsible for presenting a specially designed shoulder patch at the CoH – please remind them.
Volunteers will be needed to help with refreshments and make it significantly easier to set up and clean up.
5. Spreading the Word
To advertise the upcoming event, invitations should be sent out at least one month in advance. The blank invitation cards can be obtained at any scout store. The closest one is the Pacific Skyline Council Trading Post at Lucie Stern Community Center (1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto):
The invitations can be printed at a professional printing shop (for example, Express Printing in Mountain View (650) 967-6222) or at home. They typically contain a photo of the scout in full class A uniform. Here are some photographers who have been used in the past: Don Roper (650) 965-4389, Elena Zabelina (650) 254-4415.
A cost effective way to make invitations is to print the text at home and attach (with double sided tape) professionally printed photos. A 3.5” x 5” photo fits well on the invitation. Using Adobe Photoshop (or similar software) you can combine two copies of a photo this size into a single 5” x 7” image, a standard size which can be printed anywhere. Later, you just cut the photos in half. Since the invitation blanks are not made of photo paper, this method results in better quality than printing the pictures at home.
Request mailing labels from the manager of the Troopmaster program. When printing out the labels, make sure that "Page Scaling" option under “Printer settings” is set to “None”. Also, turn off the "Auto Rotate and Center" option if it is on.
It is advisable to submit a short announcement to the webmaster of the troop website to be included in the troop’s online event calendar.
Also, you can submit an article in the Signals newsletter to announce the CoH. Submit a photo and text to the editor of Signals before the 20th of the month for inclusion in the next month’s newsletter.
Several weeks prior to the event, send a troopwide email (to
troop37-adults@yahoogroups.com & troop37-scouts@yahoogroups.com). It is a good idea to send out a reminder email a few days before the CoH.
If possible, attend regular troop meetings for the month leading up to your CoH. This is the perfect opportunity to announce the upcoming celebration, as well as just show your face – if you haven't been active in a while, the younger scouts may have no idea who you are. Don't forget to put an invitation or other reminder on the notice board.
6. Decorations and Technical Set-Up
The following materials and equipment are owned by the troop:
· Large pieces of fabric (assorted colors) to serve as tablecloths
· Huge, patriotic backdrop to cover the wall behind the stage
· Scouting banners of various sizes
· Portable screen for slideshow
· Projector for slideshow
· Audio equipment: an amplifier + 2 speakers
· Folding card table for projector and audio equipment
· Large punch bowl and ladle
· Poster boards to display photos and mementos
All materials (except the projector) are stored at the troop’s locked cages at LAYC. Request the lock combination and the location of the projector from the scoutmaster.
Extension cords are NOT provided; you must bring your own. You will need at least two: one to power the Eagle podium, the other to provide outlets for the amplifier, projector, and possibly the computer for the slideshow.
Decorative plants may be loaned at no cost from local nurseries. The closest is Los Altos Nursery, located at 245 Hawthorne Ave (only a few blocks away from LAYC). They can be reached at
(650) 948-1421. Be sure to mention that the plants are for an Eagle CoH.
7. Slideshow
A slideshow is a traditional and fun element of a CoH. It typically covers one's entire scouting career, including tiger cubs/cub scouts.
To start, you will want to gather as many photos of you can of your scout on various trips, events, service projects, etc. Unfortunately, the troop's main photo repository was lost in a hard drive crash a few years ago. As of summer 2008, new trip photos are uploaded to
http://troop37.smugmug.com/ The password is the same as for the Insider's Page on the troop's main website. Other than that, you'll want to contact the adult leaders of trips the scout has been on. Chances are that they will either have their own photos of the trip or can point you in the right direction. You can get a complete list of all the trips your scout has been on from the Troopmaster Scout Individual Participation Report.
Putting the gathered photos in order and setting them to music can be accomplished easily enough via iPhoto or a similar program. Please note that if you plan on using iPhoto, create your slideshow on the same computer that you will bring to the CoH. That way you will not have to degrade the image quality of your photos by exporting the slideshow to a lower-resolution movie file.
8. Script
A script is necessary to have a smooth CoH. It covers everything said by the MC and a portion of what is said by other speakers from the troop. A sample script can be found on the troop website. You will need to revise it with personal information about your scout; you will need an up to date copy of his Individual History Report and Scout Individual Participation Report, available from the Troopmaster manager. Send out a copy of the script to the MC and other troop speakers several days in advance.
9. Programs
The program covers can be obtained at any scout store. The closest one is the Pacific Skyline Council Trading Post. Again, these can be printed either at home or at a professional print shop. If you print at home, you can get the necessary stapling and folding done at any Kinko’s. Alternatively, you can use a long arm stapler to staple the programs. The open ends of the staples should be inside the program—smooth side of staples are on the outside of the program.
A sample program can be found on the troop website. Please be sure to read the explanation on how it is meant to be printed (at home).
10. Set-up (specific to LAYC)
The side room at LAYC contains more than enough chairs and tables for the event. Inside there are also two separate, moveable stages. One is small and relatively high, the other is large and relatively short. The latter works best for a CoH. You will need at least 2 strong adults to roll it out and set it up if it is not already in place.
To hang up the background cloth, you will require a tall (6’) ladder and a standard staple gun.
LAYC has a kitchen: a sink, fridge/freezer, and stove/oven are free for you to use.
11. Day of the Court of Honor
Optional: Have a guest book set up on a table at the entrance to LAYC so that guests can sign it and leave a message as they come in.
Mandatory: The parents are responsible for purchasing an Eagle neckerchief and slide from the Scout store for use in the ceremony. There are several neckerchiefs to choose from: silk, cotton, embroidered or not. The mother of the scout should wear her mother’s ribbon during the ceremony.
Scout needs to sign the back of the wooden Eagle plaque. This will probably be part of your room decoration.
Refreshments: It is customary to end the proceedings with cake and drinks. Full sheet, custom-decorated cakes can be ordered from the following bakeries:
l Draeger's, http://www.draegers.com/html/contactus_fset.html. They can customize a cake with whatever picture provided (at additional cost, of course).
l Sheng Kee bakery, http://www.shengkee.com/share/cgi-bin/site.cgi?site_id=shengkee&page_id=locations. Not much in terms of custom decoration but very light and delicious sponge cake.
It is efficient to start cutting the cake a few minutes before the end of the ceremony.
Optional: Some start their CoH with a full dinner. Catering services used by troop families include Debra Walker
(408) 749-0259.
And the most important part – enjoy the celebration!
12. Aftermath
Now that it's all over, only a few loose ends remain:
l Be sure to return the Eagle podium by the agreed upon date/time.
l Likewise, return any flora you borrowed to the nursery.
l Thank you notes are a must! Send one to everybody that helped out.
l Save the date of the next Eagle Court (you'll have to pass on that Perpetual Eagle to the next person).