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Don is an alumni of Boy Scout Troop 527 in Asheboro, NC and was invited to the 75th reunion of the troop's formation. He knew at least one other participant, Alex Coffin, whose father had helped found the troop in 1937. The event started at 4:45 p.m. with people able to mill about in three rooms of photos, lists of those making Eagle Scout over the years, and pictures of kids in various time periods enjoying camps and doing things scouting teaches young men to do. We waited outside the church (First Methodist in Asheboro) for a while to see if we could gauge whether the attendees would be all male or whether I would feel comfortable with the crowd and if any one would come-150 came!
After a little while, it was clear that while the crowd was mostly men, there were women there too, some of them with their own children who were in the troop. We registered at a front desk and started milling around. We discovered a room full of interesting displays, then discovered another room, and then a third which was the largest. Alex and his wife, Sonia, and grandson, Harris arrived and we enjoyed speaking with them. Harris was 7 and was a very handsome young boy with good manners and was reading off names to himself of the names showing on the Eagle Scout wooden plaques. There was memorabilia from all time frames covered in the 75 years. I loved the badges, the historical WWII items that someone brought in, and the many handbooks displayed. Don's brother-in-law was shown as making Eagle Scout in 1947.
Alex made Eagle in 1951 just before turning 15. (While Don did not make Eagle, he did make the next level down from that, Life (and had almost enough merit badges for Eagle).After milling around until about 6 p.m., we headed up to the Sanctuary where pictures were made of all the scouts and former scouts present. This was done by the photographer going up to the balcony and taking the picture looking down on the group. I think it will be an interesting picture sometime.
(During the evening we talked with many folks including the Scoutmaster of 15 years and former Scoutmasters as well as neat young men anxious to share their accomplishments in Scouting. One had 22 merit badges and his Eagle Project is building a covered sand box for the church. He hopes to get his Eagle before his 16th birthday in June. Another had three merit badges as he is just starting and one was in Rifle Shooting, the other First Aid!)
Then we went to eat dinner. Before dinner, we pledged allegiance to the flag (and Don commented that was seldom done any more or that he had not.). I remembered the pledge from a child when we did it in school every morning. We had a guessing game going as to what would be served with two of us saying baked chicken, Harris saying hamburgers, and Alex saying fried chicken. It was barbeque although there were some chicken options as well. It was good food from a local restaurant (Hops BBQ, a Main Street Landmark in Asheboro for years.). They also had potatoes or rice, green beans, slaw, and rolls or hush puppies. There were also plenty of deserts, two of them a peach cobbler or banana pudding. Don and I both took the cobbler.
Alex and family left a bit early as Harris needed rest and they had a long drive ahead. About 10 minutes later, he was given a special recognition (in honor of his father) in the form of a patch (showing the 75 year date span of the troop and some other art work) and Don stood up and agreed to make sure he received it. Don delivered the patch on Monday following the Saturday event. (As we said Alex's father helped start the troop and was the original Scout Master. Alex's son Harris is named after his great grandfather. Alex received his Eagle in1951 at the age of about 14, way ahead of others in his peer group. He received many honors recognizing his scouting efforts during the early 1950's. Jim Bunting , Roy Minshew, classmates at AHS we learned also earned Eagle. Jerry Wagner did too, and Don knew him as his brother Smoke's roommate at UNC along with Bob Strickland.)
After dinner, many of the scouts and their leaders made speeches about former Scout Masters and other memories of scouting. Also, one of the current scouts had designed a new neckerchief for the troop and these were handed out to current scouts. (Later, they were asked to get their payments in for the neckerchiefs. We got a little kick out of this give and pay banter.) We then dismissed with Scout ceremony and went home.
Altogether a great evening with (good company.)
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1 1/2 hour audio of meeting, Troop 527 Web Page, Smugmug Pictures of 75th
