Scout’s honor…

This past Sunday was Boy Scout Sunday at the Crosby Methodist Church and it gives me an opportunity to talk a little about scouting—an institution that I support proudly and have done so for many years.
Scout Sunday is always a good time for a sponsoring organization to give some publicity and show support for its Scout Troop and Crosby Methodist always does that. This time the highlight of the event was the awarding of the Eagle Badge to one Jerry Orgeron III, a long time member of Scouting and Troop 264 at the church. I give lots of credit to Crosby Methodist, and the Methodist church nationally, for its support of Scouting. The last I heard the Methodist church is the leading institution of support for Scout Troops and Cub Packs across this great nation of ours.

Jerry Orgeron, son of Newport residents Jerry and Elizabeth Orgeron, told me following the service that he has been in scouting since he became eligible to join the Cubs. Now 18 and a college student, he isn’t as active as he used to be but still does what he can for his local troop. Orgeron is a freshman at San Jacinto College and hopes someday to be a chef. His family has a catering business and, as his college studies allow, young Jerry works for the business.
We offer a tip of the Touch of Life hat to Jerry for reaching the rank of Eagle, scouting’s highest award. Going from the entry level of scouting to the rank of Eagle is not an easy trail for anyone. It takes some study and “stick-to-itness.”
Watching Jerry at the front of the church during the ceremony took me back a few years. Well, more than a few as I got my Eagle badge about 60 years ago (maybe 61), was proud of it then and continue to be.
I haven’t mentioned scouting in this column for two or three years. The last time I remember doing so, was also following a Scout Sunday at Crosby Methodist. At that time a young Zach Harrison, son of Jerry and Connie Harrison, also of Newport, took the pulpit and did a beautiful job of leading the service. Zach has moved on to other things and Jerry will be doing much the same thing shortly. College, new jobs, and then later with their own families, they began to put into practice many of the character building ideals they learned as a Scout.
These boys may later become leaders of boys who follow in their footsteps, maybe with the same troop or perhaps another. I hope they do. Unfortunately there are not enough adults to take leadership positions in troops today.
I left scouting as a member back in 1948 when I headed for college but still remember many of the things I learned as a Scout as well as many of the friends I worked with and enjoyed while there, Since then I have done some work as an adult leader but age has separated me from those duties. Jerry Orgeron is a better young person today, in part because of Scouting, and I hope he grows more with this training.
Such are the people, places and things that have touch my life in my home.
Don Springer can be reached at touchlife@worldnet.att.net.