Last-Minute Heroes

I would hate to be a placekicker.

Too often, I’ve seen a placekicker called out in the last seconds of a football game to attempt an impossibly long field goal—all because 11 other guys couldn’t make a touchdown. On the positive side, of course, if the placekicker does make the field goal, he becomes the game’s last-minute hero and probably gets more glory than he should.

So what does that have to do with Eagle courts of honor? If your troop is typical, there’s a pretty good chance that the Scout you’re honoring spent at least some of his Scouting career under a previous Scoutmaster. In fact, the current Scoutmaster may not know the honoree that well at all.

The ceremonies in The Eagle Court of Honor Book give a central role—the actual badge presentation—to the Scoutmaster. But use your judgment in deciding which Scoutmaster that should be. (You may even decide to involve more than one, which works, too.)

In other words, don’t let a last-minute hero hog the spotlight!