Boy Scout Troop 325
Scoutmaster Minute
Doug Benson Eagle Court Of Honor
August 27, 2000
George Denise, Scoutmaster

I've known Doug for ten years now, since he first joined Cub Scout Pack 325. I was the Cubmaster. He was the wheel man. I would be up in front of the pack; here he would come in his wheel chair.

More than anything else I can tell you about Doug, he never stops smiling. Even when he got his two front teeth knocked out! He just doesn't know any better! (One of the many things we share in common: he got his teeth knocked out at age 11 falling out of his wheel chair, I got mine knocked out at age 12 falling off of my bicycle.)

We went to Cub Scout Day Camp together too. I was the Aquatics Director. Doug brought his rubber ducky!

Next was Gold River Webelos Camp at Camp Hi-Sierra. I believe this was the first of many camping experiences that chiseled a firm dislike for the out-of-doors in Doug's mother! (Exactly what is it JoAnn? Is it the dust? The insects? The odiferous outhouses? The fine camping cuisine?

Blackfoot Camp at Hi-Sierra, the finest site in the camp, has been our Troop's for seven years now, thanks to Doug. (It's the camp at the bottom of the hill, closest to the mess hall, and accordingly reserved for troops with handicapped Scouts.)

Then there was Deep Freeze, the council winter camping training program. Discretion is the better part of valor, Doug. The motel really was a good idea. Then there was sledding the next day. First he and whoever he was riding with (I think his brother) ran me down with the sled. Then, to protect myself, I rode with him and he put snow down my back!

Remember the beach trip? And the dune buggy wheel chair? The park hosts had a special wheel chair with balloon tires for use on the beach. Doug was left sitting in the sand while everyone else rode in the wheel chair! To add insult to injury, he and several Scouts were digging a giant hole in the sand when they undermined where he was sitting and he fell in the hole. You would have thought they would have been apologetic. Instead, now that he was down, they buried him. They probably felt guilty and were trying to hide the evidence! (We took a picture of Part I and Part II. Check them out at the back of the room later. Doug, by the way, was Troop Historian for three years, and did a fabulous job of maintaining the photo albums for the troop, our similarities. At age 14, Doug is undermined in the sand and falls into a giant hole. At 14, I jump off a sand dune and hit my chin on my knee. Only I got stitches in my chin. Doug fell on a softer part of the anatomy!

Doug also was elected to Order of the Arrow and went through his ordeal at Camp Chesebrough (along with Mom and younger brother Greg.) Even got his picture in the local paper on that one!

How many of you know Doug plays the guitar? He's been trying to bring it to the troop meetings for two years now. His mother is the only thing that gets in his way. How many of you play a musical instrument? What say everyone brings their instrument to our Christmas Party, including Doug with his guitar, and we play and sing Christmas carols. Sound good? All right!

So here we are, Doug, Eagle Scout! It's been a long climb, but you've reached the top of the mountain, and you've soared. Are you proud? We're proud of you. Congratulations!