A Blast From the Past

A Blast From the Past
Here is an Oldie Goldie - Northeast Airlines Conviar 240.

Sunday, May 8, 2016

Went to a luncheon recently.


 Well Friends, life is funny sometimes.

 
Three weekends ago, I was attending my first California State Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) Youth Awards Luncheon out in Sacramento, CA. Now that is a mouth full.

Truth be told, this is the very first SAR function I have ever attended outside monthly meetings. The reason I was attending this function was that I had been invited to the luncheon by the Chairman of the California State SAR Eagle Scout Recognition Committee, Mr. Gary Jensen (furthermost to the right). This was due to the fact that I had been awarded the SAR's Robert E. Burt Boy Scout Volunteer Award for my work with my local Chapter of the SAR.  The cool part about getting this award for me was; The guy who is pinning that small medal on my jacket is none other than, Robert (Robby) E. Burt himself. How cool is that! This is a great honor for me, as Robby has become a great friend as well.



















Now the back story:  In early 2014, I was looking online for ways to honor and congratulate Eagle Scouts in general, because the Boy Scout Troop that I belong too was going to have their first Eagle Scout Court Of Honor. This is a big deal in the Scouting community, and I wanted to make sure that our troop provided something special for our First Eagle Scout. Well, during my research, I discovered that the SAR had an Eagle Scout Recognition process - I was dumbfounded and caught unawares. So in finding out about this possible presentation, I called my local chapter President, which at the time was in San Francisco. He told me that they did do Eagle Scout Recognition Ceremony's, but due to where I lived (an hour North of the city), I might have greater success in having a presentation done by calling the chapter up near where I lived. So I called the President of the Redwood Empire Chapter of the SAR, and found out that they did have an Eagle Scout Recognition Committee, so I changed my affiliation almost immediately, and joined the committee. Went to my first meeting, and that's when I meet the Chapter President James Beatty, and Robby Burt, Chairmen of the local chapter's Eagle Scout Recognition Committee. Then I learned that he started the SAR Boy Scout Volunteer Award in 1988 while he was working as a Professional Scouter and a SAR member. Since then, I have been doing Eagle Scout Recognition Ceremony's with him throughout the local area when requested.

So, what does an Eagle Scout Recognition Ceremony consist of you might be asking yourself. Well, we supply an SAR Proclamation Letter and Certificate congratulating and expounding on an Eagle Scouts accomplishments during their Court of Honor ceremony.

We also provide information and applications for a monetary scholarship, called the Arthur M. Berdena King Eagle Scout Award Contest, whereby Eagles can earn, and spend on anything they want, by writing a 500 word patriotic themed essay. The awards can be quite worthwhile; my local chapter offers the winner a $250 award. We then send his winning story to the State level to compete against other chapter entrants, whereby the California winner receives $750 for their effort, and it doesn't stop there. All State winners stories are then sent to our National Headquarters in Louisville, KY, and three winners receive an even larger cash award. The First Place Winner receives $10,000, and then the First Runner-up receives $6,000, and the 2nd Runner-up receives $4,000. Check out the details at: http://www.sar.org/Youth/Eagle_Scout

And finally, after all the awards were done with and with everyone starting to head for the door, there was one more little surprise for me by my local chapter President, James Beatty. Seems as though my local fellow chapter members had awarded me "The Outstanding Citizenship Award" in December, and since I haven't been able make a meeting this year, he decided to present me the award after the luncheon as well. Thanks to all who made this a great day for me. 
   

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