Most people get their television from something other than over-the-air broadcast today, making the channel 2-13 selection for higher quality television a thing of the past. Those original networks, plus some others, quickly got into cable/satellite systems with other choices. They’ve also made significant portions of their programming over the internet. But the phone company still seems to be working according to their old way of doing business.

At the 1964-1965 Worlds Fair, AT&T demonstrated a technology they were investigating that would add video to a phone call. In the years that followed, it remained as a future. AT&T was the only game in town for Long Distance and it took the arrival of MCI and Sprint for them to start getting creative on pricing. They even charged extra for touch-tone service long after their switching systems made it more efficient for them than the old pulse dialing. Lots of other things happened to shake things up, including breaking up AT&T into a bunch of baby bells (then allowing them all to combine back together until you have just Verizon and AT&T - formerly known as Cingular). But their long-distance rates are still crazy and they still haven’t worked out telephone video. I had a video call with my son who’s away at college a couple of nights ago. He could even bring up the screen on his computer to show us something he was working on in real time, something never even envisioned at the Worlds Fair. But the call wasn’t through the phone company, I did it over the internet. A few issues, but it worked and the technology is getting better all the time. And nobody tried to ding me with additional charges. In fact, the whole call was free.

I remember having a business meeting with someone at Southern New England Telephone, some time in the early to mid 80’s, who was scoping out the company involvement in something called cell phones. She seemed to feel she was being punished for something by being relegated to this minor sub-business which would always be a minor sub-business. They were wrong, of course, and Cell Phones became a bit more than a minor sub-business. So they merged them in with the rest of the original phone company. I read somewhere recently that there are now more cell phone numbers than land line numbers. They managed to catch up on that one.

We have a problem with a scammer that keeps calling one of our cell phones. It took a minute to do a quick Internet search to find a bunch of sites with complaints about the same number. AT&T could easily do that too. We called them but they really don’t want to know. They won’t block the number that’s called my daughter’s cell phone 4 times today (as of about noon) and a number of other times over the last several days. They offered to put her on a no-solicitation list. Do they really think that someone who is already running an illegal scam is going to pay attention to that list? Of course not. They also offered an option for something called Smart Limits which can block callers (thereby confirming that they have the technology to do it). For that we need to add $5/month. So, in order to stop someone from burning up our minutes, which we pay AT&T for, we need to pay AT&T something else. That seems to make them complicit in the whole thing.

A while back, we canceled our land line because we rarely used it. Using Google Voice, we can have calls directed to other phones of our choice, so that’s now our home number. One of the options we have there is to block certain numbers, so if a call comes in that way, we don’t even see it. No charge. If the “New” AT&T cared about it’s customers more than the old AT&T, they would do the same. Instead, they still think like the old phone company. It’s crazy, because if AT&T had offered me the same things at even a reasonable price that Google gives me for free today, I may have paid for that land line for a bit longer. What they don’t realize is that other people and companies are out there getting ready to eat their lunch. That makes hating the phone company a bit more tolerable because you know that some day, it will end.

I was just north of the city when the first plane hit and turned around. I was on the phone with a co-worker for a bit who had already arrived at the office and who was watching from a conference room window as the second came in. It all seemed unreal. I turned around to go home. I did think to call home and to call my parents on the way. Both knew I was supposed to be in the city. Fortunately, my wife then thought to call the schools my kids were attending. The schools had put the news on in the classrooms. We live a distance from New York, and there are not a lot of people who commute to New York, so it had apparently not occurred to anyone that there might be direct connections to any of the kids. The front office dispatched people to let my own kids know that I was okay and on  my way home.

A few of us set up a web page for getting information to and from our co-workers who were scattered around the city and beyond and managed to track almost everybody down within a day or so. Our offices were closed until about a week later. Several of us did manage to meet there on 9/14 to see if there was any damage to the offices or systems, which we had managed to keep running remotely until then. We had not lost power or any of our data lines, and somehow it seemed strange to see the quiet desks and running equipment unscathed except for some dust that came through the elevator shafts. Outside, it looked like a war zone.

Sometime later, I was at my desk and waiting “on hold” on the telephone for someone. I idly pulled up the New York Times web site on my computer while I waited. On the side of the front page, they were running a series of brief bios of people that had been lost. That day the first person I saw was a guy I had been in Cub Scouts with.

Another strange thing I remember in the following weeks was the sight of cars scattered through the parking lots of Metro North Railroad that were clearly not being moved at night and beginning to collect dust. It took a few days before people realized that these belonged to people who weren’t coming home.

I’ve got a basement full of old grills for before the game and a closet of Jet hats and scarves and other paraphenalia that I’ll no longer be using. For years, it’s been a rite of passage around here to go to your first Jet game and get your first hat. Half of our weekends during the season were spent at Shea Stadium and the Meadowlands, cheering for our team even when they were really (REALLY) bad, which has been more years than they were passable, let alone good. On the other weekends,  we made sure to be home or at Dad’s to see the game or hesitated to drive in a direction away from New York in case we got out of range of the radio signal before the game was over.

At least when Leon Hess was alive, the fans mattered a little. Having been told, in so many words, by Woody Johnson that loyalty to the fans was something he and the team don’t have, do they really think we’re going to go out of our way to listen to or watch a broadcast or buy the licensed products they depend on?

Returning to the stadium for one last year before they move across the parking lot is going to be more a nod to nostalgia and one last set of visits with our friends than an expression of loyalty. It might be nice to hear someday that Woody Johnson lost more than he expected on his purchase of the team. That would be fair for a man who took the team from its fans.

For the first year or so, it was my father and some work associates, joined by my brother and myself when we could. On a few occasions, by grandfather came, too, and we had three generations enjoy the game together. We had our green and white hats (most people wore the old wool hats rather than the baseball hats that are more popular now) and our green and white scarves. Mom found a new source of ideas for Christmas presents, and we got green socks and similar items in December. We’d pack up blankets and head over to Shea stadium, listen to the New York Jets band play from the open end of the stadium and watch the little guy climb into the little jet and drive up and down the sideline whenever OUR team scored while jets from LaGuardia flew over head and an icy wind blew off of Flushing Bay.

In the beginning, a lot of the fans who attended the games with us were New York Giants fans who couldn’t get tickets for those games, and settled for Jets games. Some still are. But many of us became big fans of the AFL. Every now and them, you’ll still hear one of these people slip, as the Superbowl gets closer, and refer to the AFL instead of the AFC. We supported the team and the league when they were little more than a joke made when people talked about “real” football. We were there before Joe Namath, and we watched the team grow and improve. We watched Johnny Sample bless himself whenever he came out of the huddle and listened to one of the guys behind us whoop whenever Wahoo McDaniel came onto the field. We watched Don Maynard, George Sauer, Matt Snell, and Emerson Boozer score. When we made it to the Superbowl, one of our friends with a good recorder taped the audio broadcast (VCR’s weren’t around, yet) and we saved a copy. We stayed after Namath while Todd, Woodall, O’Brien, Ryan, Nagle, Essiason, Testeverde and any number of other quarterbacks took the reigns and couldn’t quite get us back while Kurt Sohn, Al Toon, Freeman McNeil, Rob Moore, and Curtis Martin came and went and when a walk-on from Hofstra named Wayne Chrebet was given a courtesy tryout and became a team star with more shirts in the stands than anyone else. We watched them retire or otherwise move on. We came back after a coach resigned to go back to college sports before the end of the season and when Rich Kotite came in to save us from Pete Caroll, who didn’t seem all that bad. Weeb Ewbank, Charlie Winner, Lou Holtz, Joe Walton, Walt Michaels, Bruce Coslet, Pete Caroll. Rich Kotite, Bill Parcells, Herm Edwards, Eric Mangini, and others promised another winning team. At the beginning of Rich Kotite’s second season, we reassured ourselves that it couldn’t get worse, but it did and we went from 3 and 13 to 1 and 15. We cheered for the Sack Exchange, even when Joe Klecko and Mark Gastineau both missed the quarterback and collided, knocking each other out. Midway through one season, a defensive player (Eric McMillan) was our leading scorer and we still kept coming. We were there when Dennis Byrd broke his neck and gave him a standing ovation when he returned to the field with a cane, walking against all odds.

We watched a flying lawnmower crash into the seats in front of us, tragically killing a fan. We endured half-time shows that included Diaper Races (really!). We honored Joe Namath, Don Maynard, Weeb Ewbank, and Joe Klecko as their shirts were retired, and wondered when the glory would return. But, we kept coming back.

We endured terrible conditions at Shea after the baseball season ended, along with most maintenance, and moved with the team to the Meadowlands. Leon Hess and the ownership/management of the team recognized the importance of the fans and our ticket section was kept together. Lenny, Harry, Peppy, and the other folks we knew by face if not by name from Shea were there when we arrived in New Jersey. We were offered, and purchased a couple of extra seats when we moved, but they weren’t with our regular seats and we found that as the team got worse, we couldn’t give them away, so we let them go. But we kept our regular seats. My Dad and I both moved to dfferent parts of Connecticut and I’d pick him up and make the long drive down, meeting my brother in the parking lot, and we kept coming.

Peppy died, but his sons are still there. Lenny’s father-in-law, Harry, died, but Lenny still comes with his kids. My grandfather died in 1973 but his great grandchildren are there. My wife first met my parents when I brought her down from college to a game at Shea. It became a family rite of passage to be brought to the games. First my brother’s kids, then my own, joined us, got their obiligatory Jet hat, and we kept coming. The parking folks started making it harder to meet people before the games by changing the entry patterns after 11:00am for the 1:00pm games, so we came earlier. We’ve had several generations of camp stoves that have never been camping, first cooking up some calamari followed by sausage and onions served on pita bread, then adding some variety when the lingering smell of onions in the car for the week following each game became too much.

Leon Hess had become the primary owner. He may have been a businessman, but he cared about the fans. He had moved whole sections from Shea to the Meadowlands. At one point, he promised not to raise prices again until he delivered a winning team. He did and the price did go up, but we understood. Then Leon Hess died and Woody Johnson bought the team from the Hess estate. He announced that the fans should have a home of their own and started his battle to get a new stadium. Sure, we played at a stadium with another teams name on it, but there really wasn’t anything wrong with the stadium itself. He tried to get one built in New York City, over the rail yards, and somebody noticed that parking there wouldn’t permit tailgating. Woody responded that the fans were so great that they would find another way to support the team (I don’t recall being asked) as long as we had our own stadium. When that fell through, it became okay to share again, as long as our name was on the building, too. Then came the kicker. To get seats that are similar to the ones we have had will require the purchase of a Personal Seat License for a fee approaching mortgage levels (about $150,000). The only consideration for all these years is that we could buy our Personal Seat Licenses in order of our longevity (not counting the fact that the team doesn’t have records — or says they don’t — before sometime in the late seventies). And, all the Personal Seat License fee will provide is the right to buy the seats, which will still be over $100 per seat per game. Some quick math shows that we’ve already put in almost a quarter of a million dollars over 45 years on tickets alone. Of course, the new stadium will have luxury boxes that Woody Johnson can sell to corporations and the teams name will be in half of the stadium name. And, of course, we could move from Row 15 to the Upper tier without paying for a license. Gee, that’s awfully generous!

It all comes down to greed and ego. There’s really nothing wrong with the current stadium other than that Woody Johnson can’t brag about it. The fans who have supported the team for so many years have been betrayed and we’re a bit P.O.’d, but there isn’t a lot we can do about it. Thanks for your support and don’t let the door hit you on the way out. OUR team was legally stolen. Without fans, a team has no value, so Woody Johnson must think we’re replaceable. None of the people we know are springing for the Personal Seat License and I only know of one who is considering moving to the Upper Tier. All of us who stayed with the team that moved from Shea to the Meadowlands will have to say our goodbyes at the end of the 2009 season. Even if we had the resources and desire to pay the Personal Seat License, no plan has been put forward to keep sections together. We don’t matter. OUR team has been taken as the hobby of a man who inherited a lot of money and has decided that we need to pay him a small fortune for the privilege of watching HIS team. After sticking with the team through 45 years of mostly losing seasons, we’ve been dumped like an aging trophy wife with a pre-nup that leaves her nothing. It may be legal, but it certainly isn’t ethical.

When the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, my grandfather stopped watching Baseball. He saw it as a personal betrayal. I’m glad he doesn’t have to watch his football team do the same thing.

After several years at Shea, we discovered that if we left the house 15 minutes earlier, and brought food, we could sit outside the stadium and watch everyone else come in from our folding chairs in the parking lot. We cheered with everyone else in the lot when the temperature display on the billboard near the parking lot dropped another degree and headed inside to endure the wind off of Flushing bay so we could watch our team with friends we only knew from the games. The woman I married met my parents for the first time when I brought her to a game at Shea.

We followed the team to the Meadowlands, where they were a tenant of the Giants, and almost the entire section moved with us. Lenny, who sat behind us at Shea, still sits behind us now. We thought it would be nice if we could actually have our own stadium, but we didn’t think about it a lot.

We learned a few years ago that a new stadium was going to be built next door to Giant Stadium, which would be owned by both teams. The current stadium is still fine, but this one will have luxury boxes, which really don’t apply to us. This year we learned the details. To purchase seats in a similar location at the new stadium requires the purchase of a Personal Seat License for fifteen thousand dollars a seat, which then allows us to buy the same seats going forward for about the same price as we do now. The only allowance being made for 45 seasons of attendance is that seniority will be applied before lotteries are held to allow us to choose licenses for seats at the new stadium. And, since the team records only go back to 1974 or so, we’ll need to compete with with everyone else who has attended for 35 to 45 years, or so. We are also being allowed to compete for seats that are two sections further from the field and don’t require a license or a new mortgage. Either way, there’s no provision we’ve heard of that would sit us near Lenny or all the other Sunday friends we know by face if not name.

I spoke to Lenny last night (after so many years, we do have the number), and he said that this has definitely changed things. He used to live and breathe all things “Jet”. After the way the team has handled this, it isn’t the same. We found out the loyalty only extended one way.

So let me get this straight. Most of the mud being thrown over the fence has been from the McCain campaign. But if Obama had allowed McCain to control Obama’s strategy, then McCain would have played nice????

Last night, a friend forwarded me one of the viral emails floating around about Senator Barack Obama, attributing a rediculous quote to him to challenge his patriotism. The quote was a complete fabrication. This morning, we received one containing a list of books that Governor Palin wanted banned. It was also a fabrication. The fabrication of so-called information does a disservice to the privilege of Free Speech.

The email about Obama built upon another viral email sent out earlier which took a picture of Obama without his hand over his heart while two of his opponents did and claimed that he refused to honor the Pledge of Allegiance. This also was not true. At the event in question, he DID put his hand over his heart during the Pledge. The picture was taken during the playing of the National Anthem. If someone wants to use that standard, then the question can be asked, though by that standard anyone who’s ever attended a ball game could have their patriotism questioned! Deliberately twisting it into something which it is not is an obscenity.

The Governor Palin thing takes a different kind of fact and twists it. She did, in fact, ask the city librarian a question about banning books. Personally, I think that even consideration of the banning of books is frightening enough. The email states that she also later tried to fire the librarian. This was also true. A quick Google search indicates that she did not think the librarian was supportive. Her reasoning is open to interpretation, and contrary to the Republican attack machine is certainly worthy of investigation and/or consideration. However, adding the claim that she actually followed through with an attempt to ban books, enhanced by a list of books that was completely fabricated, turns a valid set of concerns into an obscenity.

Spreading maliscious rumors is not new to politics. Apparently, Thomas Jefferson himself controlled some of the efforts to discredit Alexander Hamilton and the Whigs tried to do it by tying a Jackass to Andrew Jackson (which backfired, when the Democrats adopted it as a symbol of the working man as well as their party). But, I think the cynical use of this kind of disinformation has become revolting.

In the current election cycle, the “validation” of these attacks rose a notch when Hillary Clinton felt compelled to say that she didn’t know whether Obama was a Muslim which took things to the level of an official campaign comment (by the candidate, herself, no less) and was not acceptable.

Yesterday, the McCain campaign went a step further, releasing an ad which put up the headline “Obama on Palin” followed by a video of Obama using the expression, “Lipstick on a Pig.” Looking at the entire segment from which the expression was extracted shows that he wasn’t discussing anything about Governor Palin at the time, and was using the expression to describe some of the policies of John McCain. The McCain campaign trotted out its surrogates expressing outrage about the sexism of the remarks because the reference to lipstick had to have been a reference to the gender of his VP candidate, and completely ignoring the fact that the expression has been frequently used by McCain himself, including during a Town Hall type of event in which he gave an opinion on Hillary Clinton’s health plan.

The whole thing is an obscenity and should be considered an insult to the intelligence of the voters.

There were several items on the agenda, the first of which were dispensed with rapidly. The last one drew a great deal of interest. In an objective world, the elected representatives would describe what they had proposed and why they proposed it. Then the people would have a chance to discuss it. At first it seemed to be going that way until the former First Selectman jumped up and raised a point of order that the current First Selectman was exceeding her three minutes! Then, his backers wanted to limit the Director of Development to the same three minutes for explaining the details of the deal being presented to the public. The whole thing seemed to be more geared towards obstruction than participative democracy. Hopefully, in the future we’ll see rules that specifically state that the rule shouldn’t be applied to the overall presentation of what it is we’re about to discuss.

Whatever position people held on the issue being discussed and eventually voted on shouldn’t matter. The people in front were elected to do a job, and should have been permitted to present that work to the public without this kind of nonsense. It’s not about party (or party faction, which is clearly an issue there). It’s about giving approval or disapproval of a town action. There seems to be a group of people here with the wrong goal.

Will’s Eagle Court of Honor was held on June 15, 2008, and it worked out very nicely with the entire family being involved. Will’s sister Becky is a member of the Venture Crew with the troop (Venturing is a co-ed part of the Boy Scouts that extends to age 21), Nancy and I were seated in the front, and Harry, as a Webelos Cub Scout, was the escort for the newest Eagle Scout. Clicking on the picture to the left links to an album of photos from the ceremony, taken by Lorenzo Recine and much appreciated.

Since it was Father’s Day, it was nice to see how many adults came to the ceremony. It speaks volumes about the commitment of these guys who shepherd the Scouts. To the side of the room, pictures were set out showing Will’s Eagle Scout Project, a guest book, and a binder containing his recommendation letters (from me, several teachers, the Oxford Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Judith Palmer, his Project Mentor, Al Thayer, and congratulations letters from a number of public officials (George and Laura Bush, Senator Christopher Dodd, Representative Christoper Shays, The New York Jets, Governor Jody Rell, and Senator Barack Obama) as well as the framed citation from Governor Rell declaring William Joseph Schmitt Day. There was also a plaque that Nancy and I presented to him during the week before the ceremony.

Deacon John Hoffman, who is also one of Will’s teachers at Notre Dame High School gave the invocation. Scouts recited the Scout Oath and Law, and Nancy and I were escorted to the front of the room by the Scoutmaster, Wes Nelson, and Assistant Scoutmaster, Al Woodin. Normally, in this troop, the Scout is then escorted through the Trail to Eagle, represented by stands topped with the symbol of each rank and a candle. The Eagle candidate lights as he stops at each one after a Scout representing that rank describes that particular achievement. More…Instead of starting with “Scout”, the first stand was for the Arrow of Light, the highest recognition in the Cub Scouts and the only one whose badge is permitted to be worn on the Boy Scout uniform. Will’s brother, Harry, as a Webelos Scout, escorted Will from the back of the room and presented him with the candle from which all the others would be lit. He also recited to the audience:

The Arrow Of Light is the highest rank in Cub Scouting, and is the only badge of Cub Scouting rank that may be worn on the Boy Scout uniform.

To earn the Arrow of Light badge, a Cub Scout must earn the Webelos badge plus five additional Activity Badges from selected groups. The Webelos Scout must additionally satisfy five other requirements designed to prepare the boy for Boy Scouting.

Then he escorted Will through Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, and Life, with similar recitations at each station. The following is from the script prepared by Will, which was derived from various scripts of his and other troops found on the internet, and adapted to reflect the Order of the Arrow (Scouting’s Honor Society):

Eagle Voice:

Remember the friends you made and the experiences you encountered as you moved along the scouting trail. Your friends and these experiences should not be forgotten. They helped you become who you are. Your teachers and leaders know the value of experience and will remember you as well.

With your Arrow of Light fixed proudly to your uniform you and many of your friends crossed the bridge into the world of Boy Scouting and accepted the challenge of the mountain before you.

We remember when you took your first step upon the trail that leads upward.  With that first step you started to grow physically, mentally, and morally.  You began to live the Scout Oath and Law.

All the while you were on the trail, we watched you study and saw you learn by doing. Your brother Scouts soon called you a Tenderfoot, and they were right, you had indeed become a Tenderfoot Scout.

Tenderfoot:

I am the Tenderfoot. My three points stand for the three points of the Scout Oath. You find me on the mariner’s compass forever pointing the way to the North Star and a safe journey in life. On my face are two stars representing truth and knowledge, a shield which is the emblem of a nation molded together in justice, and an eagle to guard the freedom of our people.

(William lights candle at Tenderfoot Station.)

Eagle Voice:

But you were not a Tenderfoot for long. You soon reached the second ledge, and there you were greeted by a large group of Second Class Scouts.

(William moves to Second Class Station.)

Second Class:

I am the Second Class. The ends of my scroll are turned up in the willing smile of the Scout. On my face is our motto…”Be Prepared”, and suspended from me is the knot tied there to remind you of the slogan of the Boy Scouts of America…”Do a Good Turn Daily”.

(William lights candle at Second Class Station.)

Eagle Voice:

Some Second Class Scouts had been there for a long time, and were content with their achievement. Others, like you, were stopping to catch their breath before continuing along the trail. You began to study more, you worked harder, and almost before you knew it, you were to another ledge, the ledge where the First Class Scouts dwell.

(William moves to First Class Station.)

First Class:

I am the First Class. I was a Tenderfoot and I laid my course by the stars of truth and knowledge and girded myself with the righteousness of justice and freedom. Then I added a smile that I might be a friend to all and bound myself together with the knot of duty to others.

(William lights candle at First Class Station.)

Eagle Voice:

There you found a tempting green meadow split by a crystal clear stream and bathed by the sun. Here you were tempted to remain. Yes, you could have remained there in comfort, but the pull of the mountain was strong. You called for others to follow and struck for the higher ground even though the trail seemed rough and the air too thin. But the cold night air and the brilliant stars of the high mountains gave you courage. We noted your progress when you became a Star Scout.

(William moves to Star Station.)

Star:

I am the Star. I can stand alone, and have learned to find my own way in the forest. Others look to me for guidance. In front of me lies a horizon of endless opportunity.

(William lights candle at Star Station.)

Eagle Voice:

You found the trail from First Class had been an optical illusion, not as difficult as it first appeared. This spurred you on, and again you moved forward towards the ridges and distant fields of snow. The trail was steeper. Now it was less worn. Fewer Scouts seemed to be headed in your direction. You looked back and saw the crowds below you. You looked up and saw only a few above you. With the same determination with which you started your climb, you continued up the trail. Soon you came to the badge of Life Scout.

(William moves to Life Station.)

Life:

I am the Life. I have shown the world that Scouting is in my heart. I have mastered knowledge of subjects that will benefit my country and my people. I am ready to reach for my wings to fly.

(William lights candle at Life Station.)

Eagle Voice:

The heart shaped badge was placed on your uniform. You will never forget the feeling in your own heart. It was the same that has been experienced by most Scouts upon reaching the ledge of Life. Now you are close to the Eagle. You will carry on. The trail became tougher, but more interesting. You stuck with the original simple principles: The Scout Oath and Law, but now they had a fuller meaning. Your understanding of them was better. Yes, we have watched your character unfold and grow stronger. We have watched your mind develop, and your wisdom increase. We have watched your leadership ability expand into a valuable asset. We have watched all these things in you, and now that you are on the threshold of your goal, we welcome you, for you have done your climbing in a true Scout-like manner, showing others the way and accepting the challenge with courage.(William is now at front of room and places candle on fireplace. He sits.)

Eagle Voice:

I am the Eagle. It has been a long, hard, but wonderful road. I have mastered my goal. With deep humility I now stand as a representative of the best that Scouting can accomplish. May I now pass on to my younger brothers, a portion of my knowledge.

The Master of Ceremonies then…

A brother from the Order of the Arrow, Scouting’s National Honor Society, is here to speak.

Allowat:

I am Allowat Sakima, the mighty Chieftain of the Paugassetts. I have led many braves to the summit of this mountain in a long journey from our camp to show them the rewards of their climb along the trail. When you began this trip as a young Cub Scout of the trail many years ago, you had this Mountaintop as your goal. You now have reached the summit, the realm of the Eagles. But before admitting you to this honored membership, we must first hear the story of your long climb along the trail. Would Brother Joseph Majoros please come forward to tell us of William’s long Journey?

In needs to be noted that Joe Majoros was also Will’s Cubmaster during his time in Pack 65. He told us early on that he looks at the Cub Scouts that join his Pack and can usually see the potential Eagle Scouts right away. Will was one of those. He described Will’s achievements in school and scouting, including his positions as Senior Patrol Leader, Patrol Leader, Quartermaster, and other positions, his recent induction to the Vigil level of the Order of the Arrow (the first Scout in the Troop to achieve Vigil level and the second overall — Joe was the first as an adult), and recent election to the position of Chief of the Order within the Council.

The Master of Ceremonies then introduced a number of speakers, including Charles McKane, the father of Dave McKane, one of our selectmen, who was involved in Scouting in Town as far back as the 1940’s, Steve McEwan, our council Scout Executive, Captain Tom Wilson, Council Vice President of Program and Associate Advisor to Paugassett Lodge of the Order of the Arrow, Al Thayer, Wills Den Leader in the Cub Scouts who was largely responsible for keeping Will in Scouting and who Will chose as his mentor for his Eagle Project, and Dave McKane, who as Selectman for the Town of Oxford presented Will with a Citation from First Selectman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers on behalf of the town.

Scoutmaster Wes Nelson then presented the Eagle Award to Nancy and I to pin on Will. But before we did, the Voice of the Eagle interrupted and stated:

Before we present this award, in recognition of their support and of the importance of family to our organization, the candidate has requested that his grandparents do as they always have and stand behind him as he accepts the award.

That was important.

Nancy and I each attached one side of the pin to his uniform and he presented each of us with an Eagle Parent Pin, which we will wear proudly. Donald Demaine, who is an Adviser for the Order of the Arrow and a good friend of Will’s, then presented the Charge of the Eagle Scout to William Schmitt, warning him that he was now a “Marked Man” who was responsible for setting an example as an Eagle Scout. He was on the original Board of Review, was the first to congratulate him, told him how seriously he viewed the rank of Eagle, and had told us that he was honored to do so.

Will then spoke to the audience, presenting various items of recognition to all those who helped him achieve the rank, then led the Eagle’s Nest (all of the Eagles present, including a number of the current leaders) in the Eagle Scout Promise:

I reaffirm my allegiance to the three promises of the Scout Oath. I thoughtfully recognize and take upon myself the obligations and responsibilities of the rank of Eagle Scout.
On my honor, I will do my best to make my training an example of my rank and my influence count strongly and for better citizenship in my home, in my community, and in my contacts with other people.
To this I pledge my sacred Honor.

The last part of the Court of Honor in his Troop is a Gauntlet, in which all the members of the Venture Crew (including his sister Rebecca) along with the adult leaders of the Troop line up in two lines. Will passed through and each person individually saluted (which he was asked not to return) and congratulated him. At the end of the lines, Scoutmaster Wes Nelson formally introduced as the 47th Eagle Scout from Troop 65.

The plaque we presented Will with was of mahogany stained walnut, created with wood we were saving and a large brass eagle that we found on EBay. The Eagle was mounted on the upper half with the following inscribed below it:

On My Honor I Will Do My Best
William Joseph Schmitt
Eagle Scout
January 27, 2008

The date is the date of Will’s Board of Review.

The following week, after officiating at the annual Court of Honor for the other promotions within the troop, Will officially stepped down as Senior Patrol Leader, was named a Junior (Youth) Assistant Scoutmaster for the troop, and was presented with a plaque thanking him for his year and a half of service in the position.