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Scouting History: Tom started his Trail to Eagle as a founding member of Boy Scout Troop 8 when it first started in August 1993. He completed the first four ranks, culminating in First Class Scout, during his first year. He continued earning merit badges and actively participating in the very full Troop program for the next six years, summarized below:
Merit Badges: Camping, Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World, Communications, Lifesaving, Environmental Science, First Aid, Swimming, Personal Management, Personal Fitness, Family Life, Sculpture, Metalwork, Cooking, Rowing, Canoeing, Orienteering, Archery, Pioneering, Horsemanship, Safety, Pulp & Paper, Small Boat Sailing.
Leadership positions held: Patrol Leader, Quartermaster, Instructor, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, Senior Patrol Leader, Troop Guide.
Special Scouting Experiences:
Eagle Scout Service Project: Timber stand improvement project for the U.S. Forest Service (reducing fire danger by clearing overgrown underbrush in 0.7 acre of the Angeles National Forest near Mt. Mooney/Chilao), 590 total-man-hours, in November 1977.
While working up the ranks, Tom was an active participant in the troop’s many monthly outings, including various campouts and backpacking trips, rock climbing at Joshua Tree, Camporees in the Spring and Fall (these are competitions of all the District troops), kayaking at Cabrillo Youth Center and at San Diego’s Mission Bay. Tom loved the couple ski and snowboard trips the Troop went on. And one of Tom’s favorite outings was Orienteering – several times the Troop participated in the LA Orienteering Club meets (this is where the guys do a Treasure Hunt –type “race” to find various checkpoints using only a provided map and a compass) -- and in 1997, Tom and Beamer, who accidentally got put in the Adult category, won first place!
Tom also attended weekly long summer camp five summers in a row. In 1993 & 1994 the troop went to Lake Arrowhead, where Tom did the Mile Swim (along with his good friend he made through the Scouting program, Beamer Hodge, and two others) . He also enjoyed the John Wayne Outpost – a two-day backpack trip where they got to do special things like learn to throw hatchets Indian-style, and shoot black powder rifles.
The next three summers Tom went to Camp Whitsett, in the Sequoia National Forest, where he earned more merit badges, rock-climbed Sentinel Peak, and enjoyed the whitewater rafting trips. In 1997 Tom and Beamer went to Whitsett a week before the troop went and did junior leader training, called the Beaver Program. Another highlight of Camp Whitsett for Tom was the COPE program (which stands for Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience). Its purpose is to teach teamwork, but what it means to the boys is getting a chance to walk on rope bridges, to climb the Giant Slider (logs cable tied 5 feet apart about 20 feet), tightrope across a wire 30 feet up (you’re in a harness and your hands hold a second wire above your head) – and then you get to ride the “zip line” (a pulley on a cable) back down to the starting point!
Tom was an active backpacker in the Troop, and did two of the major High Adventure trips, each requiring several big weekend backpacking trips in the local mountains such as San Gorgonio and Cucamonga.
The first was 1997 50-mile Silver Moccasin Hike. “There are few Scouting challenges greater than making the “Silver Moccasin” hike across the heart of the San Gabriel Mountains. The grueling trip was first organized and mapped out by the Los Angeles Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America in 1942.” (John W. Robinson, Trails of the Angeles).
The second one was the big 1998 100-mile Whitsett to Whitney backpacking trip. Starting at the Camp Whitsett summer camp near the Kern River, they hiked 97 miles, 10 days, through the high Sierras, climbing Mt.. Whitney along the way. (Mt. Whitney is the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states at 14,499 feet.) This trip required the hikers to carry ALL their supplies throughout the hike with no re-provisioning along the way, and Tom, being one of the biggest and strongest hikers, often helped carry things for others, usually a pack of some 80-pounds.
Tom’s Eagle community service project was an outstanding 590-total-man-hour timber stand improvement project for the National Forest Service (reducing fire danger by clearing underbrush in 0.7 acre section of pine and oak forest near Mt. Mooney (near Chilao in the Angeles Crest Forest.
Done in November 1997, this project involved some 15 Scouts and ten adults, including several U.S.D.A. Forest Service volunteers, over two full weekends (4 days). They cleared thick brush (dense scrub oak and buckthorn) and low branches is the reforestation area. The purpose was to improve fire safety and improve the appearance of the area, and the project was inspected and found to meet all Forest Service Timber Stand Improvement criteria, and helped the LA River Ranger District East meet its objectives and goals in resource management.
A timber stand improvement project of this size and scope (0.7 acre) had never been done before (usually projects are only quarter or a third acre) nor has it been done since, per John Horton, U.S.D.A. Forest Service Representative, and Tom did an excellent job.
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