Happy Birthday, Boy Scouts of America

From what I hear, today is the 100th anniversary of the Bot Scouts of America. I've been thinking for a little bit about what to say about it. I went down to the basement tonight and dug out my old merit badge sash, pictured here.

I used to think this was a bunch of them, but it doesn't look like so many looking at them now.

I used to work at a scout camp during the summer. I earned a number of these there (like the 'reptile study' merit badge), but a bunch of them I earned with my troop. My Dad was the Scoutmaster, which was really nice, and he let us pick whatever merit badge we wanted to work on. (When we wanted to do the 'Animal Science' merit badge, we ended up at a dairy farm, the farmer talked to us about homogenization, pasteurization, and showed us the tool he used to castrate the bulls. I still remember all that. Very small rubber bands, if you must know...)

I really liked doing merit badges of different topics. It let me pick an interesting topic and learn lots about it. I guess I still do that, really. I'm not sure I'd have those skills today without the Boy Scouts. I also wouldn't have bought all the girls in my singles ward orchids that one year if it weren't for Scouts, either, but that's another story.

The merit badges I earned while a Boy Scout:

First Aid, Basketry, Leatherwork, Swimming, Lifesaving, Citizenship in the Nation, Art, Soil and Water Conservation, Environmental Science, Mammal Study, Computers, Citizenship in the Community, Camping, Electricity, Electronics, Reading, Orienteering, Citizenship in the World, Archery, Weather, Cooking, Reptile Study, Safety, Personal Management, Communications, Sports, Scholarship, Genealogy, Personal Fitness, Fish and Wildlife Management, Wilderness Survival, Wood Carving, Astronomy, Painting, Pioneering, Animal Science, Music, Dentistry, Pets, and Chemistry.