WIESBADEN, Germany - Troop 107 Scoutmaster Jeff Stone had some brief but precise words of advice for the troop's three new Eagle Scouts inducted at Hainerberg Chapel June 4.
"Go out into the world and live by the Scout Oath and the Scout Law. Be prepared, and do a good turn daily, and the world will be a better place because you are in it," Stone said during the Scouts' Court of Honor.
Eli Kraft and Nate Gerber, seniors at Wiesbaden High School, and Brian Welch, a student at Wiesbaden Middle School, became the latest in a long line of Wiesbaden Boy Scouts to become Eagle Scouts - there have been 44 in the past 10 years. The Eagle Scout rank is the highest rank in Boy Scouts, and the rigorous requirements for the rank include a public service project.
Each of the new Eagle Scouts delivered a speech in which they spoke about why they wanted to become Eagle Scouts and thanked the people who helped them.
Welch said he still remembers receiving his first patch from the hands of Wiesbaden Scout leader Karen Ravensberger - who was in attendance - when he was a Cub Scout. "It sparked something inside of me for Scouting," he said.
For his public service project, Welch built a wooden equipment storage locker for the Erbenheim Youth Volunteer Fire Department. Aside from his project, Welch is active in the fire department.
Welch also thanked his parents for all their help and inspiration in Scouting.
Gerber thanked God for his friends and loving family that helped motivate him. "It's been a lot of fun and just a great time being in this environment," he said.
Gerber's project included rebuilding and replacing owl nesting boxes in Breckenheim for the Nassau Fruit Orchard Association.
Kraft thanked his parents in particular, who never let him miss a Scout meeting when they lived in Stuttgart and sometimes, due to traffic, had to brave an hour-long drive to get to the base for meetings.
For his public service project, Kraft renovated an area in the Aktiv Park in Stuttgart.
All three also thanked Stone, who delivered the keynote address at the ceremony.
Stone said that due to all the learning going on at Scout meetings, they can sometimes appear to be little more than contained chaos.
"A group of older Scouts at the front of the room appear to be attempting to organize the group, most of whom seem determined to keep that from happening," Stone described.
But in the end, as is readily apparent at Eagle Scout Courts of Honor, all that contained chaos comes together into order. And it's an order that many Eagle Scouts return to participate in years after their own Court of Honor.
At the June 4 ceremony, 16 other Eagle Scouts attended, including Dr. Robert Schloesser, director of Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation, who became an Eagle Scout in New Jersey in 1951.
Stone congratulated the troop's newest Eagles and charged them to conduct themselves accordingly. "Go out and do great things," he told the new Eagle Scouts.
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