He Did It!

A little history:

Merit badges have been a fixture of the Boy Scouts of America since its inception in 1910.  The requirements that generations of Scouts have completed have taught lifetime citizenship lessons, personal fitness habits, and life skills. They have been the beginnings of countless careers and lifetime hobbies. In the last 99 years, there have been many changes in the merit badge offerings. As society has changed, the Boy Scouts of America has adapted by revising the requirements, implementing name changes, adding new merit badges, and in some instances, eliminating some badges altogether.


For the 100th Anniversary Celebration of Scouting , four vintage merit badges were released (for the centennial celebration year only),  giving Boy Scouts the hands-on opportunity to experience the exciting past of Scouting while learning how our world has changed in that 100 years.  [www.scouting.org]

When this program was announced Ben said that he wanted to earn them all .... motivated by the fact that Steve did not have them and he would be the only one in the family that could earn them (what can we say ... competitive genes!)

Carpentry - earned at Camp Winton

Pathfinding - earned with the Troop

Tracking (formerly known as Stalking) - earned at Camp Winton



Signaling


Since August he has been attending a once a month clinic to learn Semaphore Code (flags) and Morse Code for the Signaling Merit Badge.  He had to be able to send and receive both types of codes within certain time frames and even the teachers said it would be hard.  He and Steve tried to practice every day (with a serious push at the end) and his dedication and work paid off

He is a hard one to get a picture of  but he was smiling pretty big when he got home tonight!  We are so proud of him!