Your Eagle Project

[TripletDaddy]

Sanded, painted, finished the handball backboards at the local elementary school. I'm not sure how I pulled that one off because I distinctly remember we had no adult supervision most of the time. My main memories were of a bunch of my friends and I skating around the elementary school instead if working. Also, we had a tape player and listened to Depeche Mode "Black Celebration" and The Cure "The Head on the Door" almost on a loop. I have very little recollection of getting the work done, but in the end it turned out nicely.

As an epilogue, we wound up creating a huge mess in the bathroom when we tried to clean the brushes in the sinks. The paint was oil based and we quickly found out that water doesn't rinse it out of the sink. The janitor got really mad and I had to promise to come back and clean the bathroom sinks. One of my friends also spilled paint on the floor and I had to clean that.

[Art Vandelay]

Sanded, painted, finished the handball backboards at the local elementary school. I'm not sure how I pulled that one off because I distinctly remember we had no adult supervision most of the time. My main memories were of a bunch of my friends and I skating around the elementary school instead if working. Also, we had a tape player and listened to Depeche Mode "Black Celebration" and The Cure "The Head on the Door" almost on a loop. I have very little recollection of getting the work done, but in the end it turned out nicely.

As an epilogue, we wound up creating a huge mess in the bathroom when we tried to clean the brushes in the sinks. The paint was oil based and we quickly found out that water doesn't rinse it out of the sink. The janitor got really mad and I had to promise to come back and clean the bathroom sinks. One of my friends also spilled paint on the floor and I had to clean that.

Was scouting how you were first introduced to the church? Or were already friends with some mos and just start following them along to their Wednesday night activity, unawares you would someday join them?

The Head on the Door was, and still is, a fantastic album. The Smashing Pumpkins do a fantastic cover of A Night Like This.

[thesaint258]

I too was a scout dropout so I never did an Eagle scout project. I did, however, inadvertently earn some merit badges.

[Parrot Head]

I had two projects, one for filsdepac, the other for the kid who's now in the MTC. These were done as penance for my 8th grade paper likening Boy Scouts to the Hitlerjugend, and for never progressing past the rank of Star.

Fils' consisted of constructing carnival game booths and presenting games for Special Olympics participants and their families. The booths were used for years afterward by a local high school.

The elder's project involved clearing a lot of brush and undergrowth in a wildlife refuge and installing a path with lots of stairs made out of railroad ties.

The guy that oversaw Eagle projects in our area was a real hardass, and nothing came easy. I figure I earned my Eagle twice, but my mom was still deeply disappointed in me.

Still doesn't buy you a prized ticket to sit in the Eagle's Nest at a CoH.


I installed smoke detectors in the homes in low-income areas. One of them eventually burned down -- but no one was injured! But as I think about it, the homes were probably rentals and not owner-occupied, therefore we were merely subsidizing the rich getting richer. I was the problem! (Funny, I hear that a lot at home too.)

[TripletDaddy]

Was scouting how you were first introduced to the church? Or were already friends with some mos and just start following them along to their Wednesday night activity, unawares you would someday join them?

The Head on the Door was, and still is, a fantastic album. The Smashing Pumpkins do a fantastic cover of A Night Like This.

No. Frankly, LDS scouting is mostly pathetic and disorganized. I was jealous of the LDS scouts specifically because they appeared lazy, sloppy, and got to leave camp a day earlier than everyone else. By the end of my scout regime, I had adopted many LDS scouting principles, hence my eagle scout project experience.

My earliest friend when I was around 8 yrs old was Mo. He and his family introduced me. Most of closest friends since then have been Mo. I'm still friends with the first guy to this day and in fact we were just chatting on the phone on Friday.

I love The Cure through Kiss Me 3. Disintegration marked the start of their shift and anything after that is simply unlistenable. Earlier Cure is still some of my fave stuff.....head on the door, pornography, the top, 17 seconds, Japanese whispers, etc.

[SoonerCoug]

It just occurred to me that an eagle project is sort of like a dissertation. You have to get approval of your project from a committee. Then you have to do something totally awesome. And then you have to go before some sort of council or something, right?

[TripletDaddy]

It just occurred to me that an eagle project is sort of like a dissertation. You have to get approval of your project from a committee. Then you have to do something totally awesome. And then you have to go before some sort of council or something, right?

Sort of. Many projects are not awesome at all. Most projects are derivative if not exact copies of previous projects. And usually the parents wind up doing most of the work.

[YOhio]

I built a fence around a pond that was near my scout leaders' cabin.

[Parrot Head]

It just occurred to me that an eagle project is sort of like a dissertation. You have to get approval of your project from a committee. Then you have to do something totally awesome. And then you have to go before some sort of council or something, right?

And don't forget that the write-up you do afterwards also goes on a shelf or into a box somewhere only to gather dust and to never be read by anyone again.

[SeattleUte]

a bunch of my friends and I skating

[venkman]

I painted the lines for our church parking lot. Kinda lame, but I did come up with the idea on my own, organized a fundraiser to purchase the supplies and rent the equipment, and supervised the work with little adult involvement, which is the point of an eagle project.

My stint as an adult leader really opened my eyes as to how little many if not most boys have to do with their own projects.

[creekster]

I never made it past second class, or maybe first class.

My oldest son did a very ambitious project. He landscaped about a quarter acre at a local daycare center. It involved leveling the lot, pouring a slab for a shed, as well as a walkway and associated flatwork, installation of river rock ground cover (he got a local landscape company to donate the rock), and construction and installation of some very large planter boxes. It made a huge difference to the center and he did most of it himself. My most intrusive contribution was on the second Saturday, when the temperature rose to 112, I rented a bobcat to move the river rock. The bobcat was fun.

[venkman]

I never made it past second class, or maybe first class.

My oldest son did a very ambitious project. He landscaped about a quarter acre at a local daycare center. It involved leveling the lot, pouring a slab for a shed, as well as a walkway and associated flatwork, installation of river rock ground cover (he got a local landscape company to donate the rock), and construction and installation of some very large planter boxes. It made a huge difference to the center and he did most of it himself. My most intrusive contribution was on the second Saturday, when the temperature rose to 112, I rented a bobcat to move the river rock. The bobcat was fun.

Wow, that's an awesome project. Good for him.

[creekster]

Wow, that's an awesome project. Good for him.

Yes. To be honest, when/if my youngest gets to that point, I hope he goes a little smaller scale. It was a great project but man it was a huge job.

[Clark Addison]

Still doesn't buy you a prized ticket to sit in the Eagle's Nest at a CoH.


I installed smoke detectors in the homes in low-income areas. One of them eventually burned down -- but no one was injured! But as I think about it, the homes were probably rentals and not owner-occupied, therefore we were merely subsidizing the rich getting richer. I was the problem! (Funny, I hear that a lot at home too.)

I have mixed feelings about BSA. I never really pushed my son to get his Eagle, and he ended up about 3 merit badges short. But I love going to Eagle Court of Honors and sitting in the Eagles Nest. They call everyone up, and I go sit in the choir seats and look down with scorn at those sitting in the congregation. As I look at each of the men, I try to have a look on my face that conveys "I guess you just didn't have it in you".

I imagine it is similar to how I will act at the final judgement.