Since 1992
Print and digital marketing
By Chuck Mahaleris
Kennebec District Boy Scouts
SIDNEY — While 42 young men in the Boy Scouts of America Pine Tree Council’s Kennebec Valley District — which includes Kennebec, Lincoln, Knox, Somerset and Franklin counties — have reached Eagle Scout, there are those who soar beyond Scouting’s higest rank.
District Director Matt Mower said, “Reaching Eagle Scout is pretty rare. Only 4 percent of all Scouts attain the rank of Eagle Scout. The program is designed to challenge the Scout so that he learns about life and the world around him while developing within him citizenship, character and fitness.” Mower is the professional Scouter working with volunteers in Kennebec Valley District.
But Scouts can keep soaring after Eagle, until they tearn 18, earning an Eagle Palm for every five additional merit badges.
For instance, Owen Corrigan, of Sidney Troup 401, earned his Eagle in 2016, earning the 21 merit badges necessary to attain Eagle, and also four Eagle palms.
Mower explained, “After you reach Eagle, you can keep going until you turn 18. Once you turn 18, you can’t earn any more merit badges. For every five badges you earn beyond the 21 required for Eagle, you receive an Eagle palm that you wear on your Eagle Scout ribbon or on his patch.”
Corrigan, who turned 18 on Jan. 20, has become a Scout leader and helps other Scouts on their trail to Eagle. Before he turned 18, he completed the requirements for 41 merit badges entitling him to four Eagle Scout Palms.
Eagle Palms are bronze, gold and silver awards presented to young men who earn five, 10, 15 or more merit badges beyond the 21 required to become an Eagle Scout.
Scouts can earn from one bronze palm to gold, silver, and multiple palms, depending on how many addional merit badges they earn.
Corrigan is in a small group. The last Scout to earn four palms was Ian Ferguson, of Windsor. Ferguson, who reached Eagle in 2014, kept working on merit badges until he turned 18 in April 2017. He earned 55 of the more than 135 merit badges offered.
Advancement Chair Chuck Mahaleris said, “Ian and Owen are both great examples of what a Scout should be. They are positive, determined, and ready to help others at all times. It doesn’t surprise me that both have kept flying even beyond Eagle.”
Corrigan said that the hardest badges he earned were the Citizenship badges, which are among those required for Eagle. The first badge he earned was Swimming Merit Badge which he earned at Camp Roosevelt in East Eddington in 2011.
The last badge he earned was Gardening Merit Badge which he earned last Fall. He said taking Lifesaving and Swimming Merit Badges inspired him to become a lifeguard at KV YMCA in Augusta.
“I enjoy hands on things and putting my Scouting skills to use to help others,” he said. Since becoming an adult leader in Sidney Troop 401, he has gone on to help teach Scouts Swimming Merit Badge.
To earn that many badges, Owen had to keep pushing himself. He earned badges in his troop and at Merit Badge College and at summer camp. “One year I spent a week at Camp Roosevelt and then a week later I was earning badges at Camp Bomazeen in Belgrade.”
TOP PHHOTO: Eagle Scout Owen Corrigan holds up his Merit Badge sash. He earned 41 of the 136 merit badges available. After the 21 required for Eagle Scout, each additional five earns an Eagle Palm, of which Corrigan has four. (Submitted photo)
