Scouts, Scouters, and Parents:
I hope this finds you well. We have enjoyed a number of great Patrol Leader Council (PLC) meetings as we develop plans for how we are going to eventually begin meeting in person. The PLC has elected to do a Troop-wide virtual meeting next week, mainly centered around camaraderie and games, giving our Scouts an opportunity to fellowship and check on one another. The Senior Patrol Leader will publish information about how to log in and what uniform to wear. This will be a password protected meeting and anyone who is not recognized as a member of the Troop or acting inappropriate will be disconnected from the meeting.
This week we have coordinated with our Chartered Organization Head to establish conditions to meet again. Agreed-upon conditions are no-earlier-than 30 June and when the Commonwealth goes into Phase 3. Of note, we do not have an indoor meeting place yet. Lake Ridge Middle is closed. St. Matthew's Lutheran is closed to any gatherings outside of Sunday services until August (to include restrooms). We could meet in the picnic area where we sell trees, but there is no available overhead cover if we get rain and the noise from Old Bridge Road makes communication difficult. We are looking at options. If you have one -- please let me know.
The Summer Camp survey results are in -- the majority want to go to the Bechtel Summit. ASM Sue Straka has published some information today and we will work on registration -- please let her know soonest if you plan to attend so she can make the right reservations. Target date is first week of August. I understand that some families are not ready to send their Scouts to summer camp this year. That is OK -- every family must make that decision. There are several summer camps that have virtual camp programs, e.g., Resica Falls and Goshen. If you plan to attend one of these, please let me know. If you need help finding a camp or information on how to register, please let me know as well.
For this week's Scoutmaster Minute, I am borrowing a recent blog from Scouting Magazine:
Boy Scout Bob Heft loved flags, and he loved politics.
So when his U.S. History teacher handed out a homework assignment in 1958, Bob had the perfect idea.
He would design something nobody had seen: a 50-star version of the American flag.
Bob, a high school junior and Boy Scout in Troop 113 of Lancaster, Ohio, had been reading the news and knew that Alaska was poised to become our nation's 49th state, with Hawaii soon behind.
So he cut out 50 stars from iron-on material and arranged them on some blue fabric. He sewed this new field of stars to his family's 48-star flag.
"I had never sewn in my life. I watched my mom sew, but I had never sewn. And since making the flag of our country, I've never sewn again."
Bob's teacher reacted with confusion.
"The teacher said, 'What's this thing on my desk?' And so I got up and I approached the desk and my knees were knocking the teacher said, 'why you got too many stars? You don't even know how many states we have.'"
The final grade: B-minus.
Not terrible, until you consider that Bob's friend picked up five leaves off the ground, taped them in a notebook and got an A.
Bob was upset, so the teacher offered what seemed like an impossible-to-achieve bit of consolation.
"If you don't like the grade, get it accepted in Washington," Bob remembers the teacher saying. "Then come back and see me. I might consider changing the grade."
Two years and 21 letters and 18 phone calls to the White House later, Bob received a call from President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
"Is this Robert G. Heft?"
"Yes, sir, but you can just call me Bob."
"I want to know the possibility of you coming to Washington, D.C., on July Fourth for the official adoption of the new flag."
On July 4, 1960, Bob Heft stood next to Eisenhower as the 50-star flag was raised over the U.S. Capitol.
And what about Bob's teacher?
"He said, 'I guess if it's good enough for Washington, it's good enough for me. I hereby change the grade to an A.'"
In the decades after, Bob inspired people young and old with his follow-your-dreams story. He was a seven-term mayor of Napoleon, Ohio. He spoke extensively — as many as 200 engagements a year — and visited the White House 14 times under nine presidents.
Bob Heft died in 2009, but his legacy survives every time we fly his 50-star creation.
And if the U.S. ever adds a 51st state — perhaps Puerto Rico?
Bob was prepared. Back in 1958 he designed a 51-star version that uses six rows of stars, alternating between rows of nine and eight.
BSA Vision Statement: The Boy Scouts of America will prepare every eligible youth in America to become a responsible, participating citizen and leader who is guided by the Scout Oath and Law.
Yours in Scouting Service,
Doug Henry
Scoutmaster, Troop 1396
Chartered by St. Matthew's Lutheran Church