Boy Scouts In The Community Merit Badge

MADISON- Madison Mayor Paul Finley recently attended the local Boy Scouts Citizenship in the Community Merit Badge gathering at St. John’s Catholic Church in Madison. He soon found out the young people in the community are more in tune with what they look to as their future than any could imagine.

“These youngsters are not just spending time on computers or games they are paying attention to the community around them,” said Mayor Finley. “They asked some very high-level, thoughtful questions.”

Mayor Finley, Madison County Commission Chairman Dale Strong and District Court Judge Linda Coats were each invited to be guest speakers at the Merit Badge gathering for what is required to earn the Eagle Scout Rank. The required activity of earning the badge is interviewing and asking questions of community leaders. The bevy of questions were presented by the 40 scouts representing Troop 350. The questions ranged from safety concerns, the war on drugs and road construction.

“I asked the question of why Sparkman high does not have a huge auditorium like the other high schools,” said Thomas Coats, a Sparkman High sophomore, a member of the school band and member of the Boy Scouts for five years. “Listening to the guests, I found out how politicians are good at dodging questions though they don’t mean to. As for being in the Scouts, that has taught me responsibility and leadership qualities.”

“One scout asked about overall safety within our community and I was impressed with that young man who was thinking about safety and that showed me how much the City of Madison has worked with our Police and Fire Departments,” said Mayor Finley. “The high level of questions made me proud of the scouts and their troop leaders. Seeing what they were interested in made me feel good about our future.”

“I was sort of worried they may ask inappropriate questions so I spoke with them about the type of questions that the guests would like to hear and told the scouts to keep the questions down home,” said Charles Coats, assistant scout master and merit badge counselor. “I think all of the questions were spot on.”

Commissioner Strong expressed his concerns on helping young people to keep off drugs and how organizations like the Boy Scouts are important in the constant fight against drug abuse. He also hit on the fact today’s Boy Scouts are tomorrow’s mayors and commissioners.

The Boy Scouts is a great organization for boys 11-17. There are currently over 800,000 Boy Scouts in the U.S. along with half that many number of volunteers. There are more than 135 merit badges, which can be earned at any time.

The recent gathering for Troop 350 proved to be a learning and eye-opening experience for the troop and for the guest speakers. Mayor Finley added, “These individuals have a passion and they want to make a difference in their future.”