Our newest Eagle: Marcus!
Marcus passed his Eagle board of review on Monday night, September 13, and walked out of the room grinning like he'd just won the lottery. His project was a set of 14 wood duck nest boxes and a two-sided bench with a bird identification sign at the pond in a county park along the San Joaquin River. He recruited 19 volunteers (Scouts, parents, two grandpas and a lady from the Audubon chapter who showed him where the boxes should face) for a total of 212 hours. Two boxes had tenants by June. His Eagle Court of Honor will be in January. Details when we have them.

Marcus is Troop 317's 61st Eagle Scout since 1962.

For new families, here's the short version. After First Class come Star and Life, and then Eagle. To earn Eagle, a Life Scout has to:

1. Be active in the troop for at least six months as a Life Scout.
2. Show that he lives by the Scout Oath and Law in his daily life, and give the names of people who can vouch for him.
3. Earn a total of 21 merit badges, including the 12 required ones (listed below).
4. Serve actively for six months as a Life Scout in a troop position of responsibility, like patrol leader, scribe or quartermaster.
5. Plan, develop and lead others in a service project for a religious institution, a school or his community. He's the leader. He does the planning, and he's in charge on the work day, not the parents.
6. Take part in a Scoutmaster conference.
7. Pass a board of review.

All of it has to be finished before his 18th birthday. The board of review can happen after, but the work can't.

The 12 Eagle-required merit badges:

Advice from Mr. Salinas and me, after watching a lot of these:

• Start early. Seventeen and a half is too late to be picking a project. Fifteen is about right.
• Get it approved before you buy a single board. The proposal gets signed by the Scoutmaster, the troop committee, the district advancement people, and whoever the project is for. Then you start.
• Keep a log. Every hour, every volunteer, every dollar. Write it down that night, not three months later.
• Take pictures, before, during and after. Your board will want to see them.
• Write thank-you notes. Real ones, on paper, with a stamp.

Our Eagle Scouts go back to 1964, when Walter Haines earned the troop's first. Mr. Haines still comes to every Eagle court of honor, and he still ties a better bowline than any of us. The full list of all 61 is on the plaque in the fellowship hall. Come look at it some Monday.