Lehman Kapp, District Scout Commissioner, made
the Merit Badge presentations. He has just pre
sented Buddy Rhodes with a Merit Badge Award.
start him on his way to being a champion swim
mer. There are Merit Badges in a dozen different
fields which will help lead a boy to the top. Too,
if a boy lives in the country, the projects in such
Merit Badge subjects as Corn Farming, Dairying
or First Aid to Animals include many things which
will help him become a first-rate farmer.
In developing new interests, Merit Badges are
excellent starters. Collecting rocks and minerals
on a Patrol hike for the Rocks and Minerals Merit
Badge might start a Scout on a hobby that would
last him all his life. If he likes to make things,
the Merit Badges in Radio, Electricity and Farm
Mechanics might be the start of a whole new field
that he had never thought of.
The Merit Badge Counselors who test Scouts on
their knowledge of the Merit Badge requirements
are experts in their particular field and can be of
invaluable aid to a Scout who seeks their advice
and guidance.
Many men who were once Scouts feel that their
entire lives were influenced by their Merit Badge
work. There are hundreds of doctors, radio en
gineers, forest rangers and other men whose am
bitions were first kindled while they were Scouts
earning Merit Badges.
The next step up the Scouting Trail is the rank
of Life Scout. To attain this rank, the Star Scout
must have had a record of satisfactory service for
a period of at least three months and must qualify
for ten Merit Badges. However, the ten may not
be ten of the Scout’s own choosing. They must in
clude: (1) First Aid; (2) Personal Health; (3)
Public Health; (4) Physical Development or Ath
letics; and (5) Life Saving or Pioneering or Safety,
When a Scout is awarded his Life Scout Badge
he is within sight of the peak of his climb—Eagle
Charles Dunlop, District Chairman, exchanges the
Scout Handclasp with Jackie Merrell as he pre
sents him the Star Scout Badge. Next step - Life!
Scout. Advancing from Life to Eagle is still an
uphill go though. There are many more Merit
Badges to earn—twenty-one in all. And of the
twenty-one, only eight may be of the Scout’s own
choosing. The thirteen "required” Merit Badges
are: (1) First Aid; (2) Swimming; (3) Life
Saving; (4) Personal Health; (5) Public Health;
(6) Cooking; (7) Camping; (8) Civics; (9)
Bird Study; (10) Pathfinding; (11) Safety; (12)
Pioneering; and (13) Athletics or Physical De
velopment.
In addition to the Merit Badges, the Scout must
have served satisfactorily as a Life Scout for a
period of at least six months, and the Troop’s
Committee on Advancement (which is composed
of Adult Scouters) must secure from those who
may be in a position to know from personal knowl
edge (not from the Scout himself, but from his
parents, school teachers, employer, pastor, Sunday
School Teacher, Scoutmaster or others) definite,
concrete, satisfactory evidence that the Scout has:
First, actually put into practice in his daily life
the ideals and principles of the Scout Oath and
Law, the Motto "Be Prepared,” and the "Daily
Good Turn.”
Second, maintained an active service relation
ship to Scouting.
And, third, made an effort to develop and
demonstrate leadership ability.
When we see a Boy Scout who has reached the
top and is proudly wearing his Eagle Badge, we
are seeing the Scouting Movement personified.
There goes a boy, who, through Scouting, has
learned to value the great heritage which the past
has brought to him in the life and ideals of Amer
ica. He has learned that the way to good citizen
ship is through service.
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