The American Spectator

“Second class! First class!” they called out. “Tenderfoot,” said Squirrel, ever proud of his lagging.

“Alright, how many of you want to go on and earn Star and Life?”

“I do! I do!” they all chorused, ever enthusiastic about some unknown challenge.

“What do you have to do to earn Life?”

“Be a good boy,” shouted Skipper, provoking laughter as usual.

“Be a good Scout!” shouted Darien, upright as ever.

“Be a patrol leader,” said Jared, looking for some credit to his efforts.

“Well, you’re all three right,” said Newman. “You have to do all those things. But you have to earn a lot of merit badges, too. Do you fellas know about merit badges?”

“What are merit badges, Mr. Newman,” sung Skipper, enjoying the back-and-forth.

“Well, merit badges are where you’ve got to learn about something real well. Like camping. There’s a camping merit badge.”

“Can we earn our camping merit badge today, Mr. Newman?”

“Well, it usually takes a little longer than that. You have to go on three or four camping trips and learn a lot of other stuff as well.”

“But what’s the Eagle project, Mr. Newman?” asked Darien, coming back to the point.

“Alright, fair question. After you’ve earned your Star and your Life, you can go for Eagle Scout. It’s the highest award in Scouting. Very few Scouts ever make it. But you have to do a big project, for your community.”

“Does that mean like building something?” asked Tom Brown.