A Scout for 80 Years
Posted in Scouting News by John E. Pannell on September 26th, 2006 at 12:31 am I saw this earlier this evening online at http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1157003492148600.xml&coll=1.
The article begins:
It was 1926. Queen Elizabeth II was born, the first liquid-fuel rocket was launched and a pair of men’s pants cost less than $6. It also was the year Charles Soldi joined the Boy Scouts.
Soldi, the middle of six kids living in Orange, was 12 when he was recruited by a neighbor. He quickly advanced in Scouting with the goal of making Eagle Scout, the organization’s highest achievement. He earned 22 merit badges and in February 1932, at a court of honor, he was presented with his sterling silver Eagle Scout pin.
Yesterday, Scouting officials from northern New Jersey recognized “Uncle Charlie” with another court of honor, presenting him with an Eagle certificate, patches for his years as an adult leader, and pins to reflect his total years of service. The Scouts don’t make a pin to reflect 80 years of service, and a 70-year pin was not readily available, said Dan Stryker, assistant commissioner for the Orange Mountains District, which oversees Scouting in the West Orange area. So, being a resourceful group, the Scouts gave Soldi 55-year and 25-year service pins.
Click on the link above to read the full article.
It’s nice to see good news covered.
My only criticism is that if the council was planning to honor this man they really should have gone the extra mile to find a 70 or 80 year pin. Since a 70 year star apparently exists, they should have moved mountains to find one for him. It could have also been nice to round up some folks to donate the money — and surely that would have been easy to do for him! — and have something really nice custom made for him.
You know, if you go to ScoutStuff.org, click on “Gifts” and then “Pins”, you can find Veteran Scouter pins in “denominations” up to 90 years.
If you click on “Uniforms and Insignia” and then “Accessories”, you can find Service Stars, which are listed in 75, 80, and 90 year values (although it’s a bit odd that there’s nothing listed between 40 and 75).