Eagle Court of Honor

Warning....long post ahead.

This update is just as much for the readers of my blog (all 3 of you) as it is for our family journaling purposes.  So, if you are "put off" by large posts, and tons of pictures, feel free to skip this. 

Jourdan had his Eagle Scout Court of Honor on July 7th at Camp Currie, which is where he did his project.  We started with an opening flag ceremony which didn't go exactly as I planned, but was still nice.  Jourdan's two troop mates carried the colors in and were followed by a group of Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Girl Scouts.  Each group stopped to state their promise and/or oath after the flags were posted.

The "dudes" on the stage are part of the "Eagles Nest" which means that they have all earned their own Eagle Scout award in their lifetime.....some of them longer ago than others!  Then a quartet (Ruth Brown, Bev George (Jourdan's 3rd grade teacher), Aaron Brown, and Jourdan) sang the national anthem.  They did a beautiful job in 4 part harmony.

According to our count, 78 people came to his court of honor (including our family).  We thought it was a good turn out considering the location and being the week after the July 4th holiday.  The crowd included three of Jourdan's teachers, Julia's 4th grade teacher, Grandma and Grandpa Rippon, two other teachers from the school where I work, two classmates and their families, former and current Scout leaders, the bishopric, a District Executive from our Scout District, lots of people who helped with various aspects of the project, and friends.

Justin Jackson (1st counselor in our bishopric) was our Master of Ceremonies.....he did a fantastic job and had a great sense of humor.

Ron Shake, who is the Eagle Advancement Chairman for our District, spoke about what it means to be an Eagle Scout.  He was the guy that had to approve Jourdan's project, recommend him to the Eagle Board as an Eagle Candidate, and sit in on his Board of Review.  He did a wonderful job explaining Jourdan's project, as well as speaking about the significance of the Eagle rank.

Next, two of Jourdan's teachers spoke about what kind of a student Jourdan is.  Ms. Sullivan was his 6th grade science teacher and Mr. Clark was his 7th grade science teacher.  They "shared" the stage and shared stories about Jourdan as a student.  It was nice to know that his teachers think highly enough of him to take time out of their summer to speak at his Court of Honor.

Then, Alva Barney, Jourdan's former Scoutmaster, spoke about Jourdan as a Scout.  He shared the story of Jourdan eating an entire apple (everything but the stem and seeds) at Scout camp.  He said that Jourdan has the same approach with Scouting as he did with the apple - he finishes the things he starts and does a thorough job of his assignments.

The next speaker was our Bishop, Kirk Brown.  He spoke about Jourdan as a member of the church.  Jourdan is currently the Deacon's Quorum president, so he gets to work closely with his church leaders including Bishop Brown.

Shannon Taylor came to read the Call of the Eagle, which is apparently a staple of many Eagle Courts.  He is 1/2 Shoshone (his mother if full Shoshone, and didn't speak a word of English until she was 10).  He comes from the same tribe as Sacajawea who helped Lewis and Clark explore the Northwest Territory.  He did a wonderful job.

Steve McConnell is Jourdan's Assistant Scoutmaster.  He read the Eagle Challenge and helped with the actual award presentation.

As his mother, I got to pin the Eagle pin on Jourdan's uniform. ( I apologise now for the picture of a side of me that I do not like to have photographed, but it's the only one we got.)

Then, Jourdan pinned his father and I with our very own Eagle pins.  I guess that makes up for all the time and energy we put into this advancement and event.  (On a side note, notice the large bandage on Jourdan's arm....he burnt himself fairly severely trying to help me with the cupcakes we baked for this event...you'll see those later!)

Jonathan presented Jourdan with his new neckerchief.  Yes, it's also blue like the one he had on before, but trust me - it's different!

Then Jonathan had Jourdan repeat the pledge known as the Eagle Charge.  He promised all kinds of things pertaining to his conduct as an Eagle Scout and how he will continue to serve in the Scouting program.

Although Dad almost forgot, he presented Jourdan with this plaque that was later placed on the benches that Jourdan built for his project.  For those of you who can't read the tiny print (on a shinny surface) it says "Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project / Boy Scouts of America / Led by Jourdan Hale / October 9, 2010.

The last speaker was the Eagle Scout himself.  He thanked his teachers, leaders (church and Scouts) and his family for helping and encouraging him.  He did a great job considering his nerves and the size (and attendees) in the audience.

After the ceremony, we headed to the lodge for displays and refreshments.  One of the displays we had was 101 Years of Scouting by Paul Casillas.  He teaches math at Clark College (we met him a couple of years ago through our former neighbor) and is a collector of all things related to Scouting.  He has all the handbooks for each area of Scouting since the program began in 1910.  It was kind of him to bring his display all the way across town for our guests to enjoy.

This display includes things Jourdan made or earned as a Boy Scout from age 11 until present (he just turned 13).  I also displayed the scrapbooks I had created for him while he was a Cub and Boy Scout.  He recently was inducted into the Order of the Arrow which is a service oriented organization within Scouting (similar to the National Junior Honor Society he is a member of in school).

This table had our Guest List and a basket for leaving notes and cards for Jourdan.  SO glad I went to all the trouble to make all those little cards for people to leave Jourdan a personal note (sarcasm speaking there).  Three people figured out what that was for.  I obviously did a poor job of explaining what that was for because 2 of those people were Julia and I....WHATEVER!  I'll just pass those on to the mother of the next Eagle Scout.

This display includes things relating to Jourdan as a student and citizen in the community.  His scrapbooks from the 3 musicals he has done (and another digital frame with other musical theater pictures), the 7th grade Citizen of the Year award from his middle school, and various other awards were displayed.  We also had a photo frame of all his dahlias he grows.

Lastly, we had a table with refreshments, which is totally self-explanatory.  I say that, but I am especially proud of the cupcakes that look like a flag.  The theme I was going for with the decorations was rustic outdoors (thus the trees, pine cones, and lanterns) mixed with Americana (stars and flags).  I think it turned out almost as good as I had imagined; if you don't agree, don't tell me, I'd rather live with my rose colored glasses still in tact!)

Just including this one so you can appreciate the cupcake flag. They look better than they taste, but who's judging.

Thank you to everyone who helped our family and Jourdan with his project, the party, and Scouting in general.  I feel like setting up for this program and party was like a miniature "dry run" for a future wedding.  It was definitely an undertaking, but Jourdan is well worth the time and energy spent!