Schallock honored as Troop 50’s 17th Eagle Scout

On Saturday, May 12, Troop 50 bestowed the Boy Scouts of America’s highest rank during a ceremony honoring new Eagle Scout William “Liam” Henry Schallock III. Liam appeared before the Saugahatchee District’s Eagle Scout Board on February 20, 2018, making him the troop’s 17th EagleScout, and one of two Scouts to receive the Eagle Scout rank so far in 2018.

Liam’s ceremony, held at Chewacla State Park’s Lower Pavilion — the site of his Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project — included many of his fellow Scouts who have been in Scouting with him since his days as a Cub Scout, and who have served with him in a variety of troop leadership positions. The ceremony also included his grandfather, Sonny Cantrell, who offered the welcome, and his godmother, Brandy McMichael, who led the ceremony’s opening and closing prayers.

Liam's mother Sasha pins him with the
Eagle Scout medal.

After accepting the “Eagle Scout Charge” from Scoutmaster Andrew Baird, Liam’s mother, Sasha, pinned Liam with his Eagle Scout medal, and his father, Bill, presented him with his Eagle Scout neckerchief slide. In turn, Liam presented his parents with Eagle Scout mother and father pins to recognize their contributions to his success on the "trail to Eagle." Liam also received membership in the National Eagle Scout Association as a gift from the troop.

Liam’s ceremony included additional special recognitions and congratulations from members of the community. Among these were honorary membership in the Alabama Association of School Resource Officers (the focus of his father’s service as a member of the City of Auburn Police Department); a resolution from the Alabama House of Representatives, presented by Alabama House District 79 State Representative Joe Lovvorn; and commendation letters from Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Commissioner Christopher Blankenship (who is the agency head of the Alabama State Parks), Ford Motor Company Executive Chairman William Clay Ford, and Advanced Micro Devices President and CEO Dr. Lisa Su.

Scoutmaster Andrew Baird presents Liam with his framed Eagle Scout certificate.

Liam after crossing over from Cub Scouts
to Troop 50 in April 2014.

During Liam’s closing remarks — which his parents would later refer to as “interesting” and “longer than his mother expected” — he expressed appreciation to those who had played roles in his development, education and advancement in Scouts. He honored several special individuals by presenting them with Eagle Scout mentor pins. Those included Scoutmaster Andrew Baird; Assistant Scoutmasters Wes Williams, Jason Smith and JP Pendleton; and his grandmother Jenny Cantrell.

Liam joined the troop in 2014 after earning Cub Scouting’s Arrow of Light as a member of Pack 811. As a member of the troop, he has served in leadership positions that have included troop guide, lead instructor, assistant patrol leader, assistant quartermaster, and his current role as junior assistant scoutmaster.

Through his Scouting participation, he has earned 31 merit badges to date, qualifying him for a gold Eagle palm at the time of his ceremony. He also has accrued 55 nights of camping, 83 hours of community service, and 39 hiking and backpacking miles. In addition to various troop-related outings and campouts, he attended the National Boy Scouts of America Jamboree in July 2017, held at The Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia.

Liam reviews progress on his Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project with his father Bill.

For his Eagle Scout leadership service project, Liam provided electrical service connections for a pavilion at Chewacla State Park in Auburn. The project entailed burying more than 400 feet of electrical cable to connect the pavilion to the power supply. Liam supervised a group of more than 15 Scouts and adults who contributed more than 200 volunteer hours.

Liam with (left to right) father Bill, sister Emily and mother Sasha

Liam is the son of William and Sasha Schallock of Auburn, and the brother of Emily Love Schallock. Currently, he is a rising 10th grader at Auburn High School, where he is a member of the Junior Honor Society. He also holds a first-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and plays defense for the Auburn Youth Lacrosse Club Junior Varsity team.

Since the first Eagle Scout was awarded in 1912, nearly 2.5 million Boy Scouts have completed the Eagle Scout’s performance-based rank requirements, which currently include serving in progressive leadership positions, demonstrating outdoor and Scouting skill competencies, earning at least 21 merit badges, and planning and executing a seminal Eagle Scout leadership service project. During 2017 alone, 55,494 Boy Scouts earned Scouting’s highest rank.

For more photos of Liam's ceremony and service project, visit the troop's online photo album.

Webelos 'take aim' at troop during Arrow of Light ceremonies

The Troop 50 family is growing as a result of two recent Arrow of Light crossover ceremonies. We're delighted these Scouts have chosen to continue their Scouting journey into Boy Scouts, and that their Trail to Eagle will include Troop 50. Many of our new Boy Scouts have already been attending meetings and activities while Webelos Scouts, and we're excited to make them official Boy Scouts in our troop.

Liam accepts an arrow keepsake from
Pack 811 as part of the pack's
Arrow of Light and Crossover
Ceremony.

The first of these ceremonies was Pack 811's, conducted on March 16 at Auburn University's Ag Heritage Park. At that ceremony, Liam became Troop 50's first new Scout of 2014 as he crossed the bridge into Boy Scouting.

The second ceremony was Pack 29's, conducted on April 5 at Auburn United Methodist Church. The ceremony included nearly 20 Webelos Scouts from two dens, and 10 of those chose to join Troop 50.

In addition to being represented by the Webelos joining the troop, the ceremony also included two founding Scouts of Troop 50 — Andrew and Davis — who appeared as two of the four Native American principals who each represented one of the four winds — North, South, East and West. At the end of the ceremony, Webelos were escorted to different areas where each of the troops receiving their new Scouts were stationed. Both Andrew and Davis earned the Arrow of Light as Webelos themselves and are alumni of Pack 29. For more photos from the Pack 29 Arrow of Light Ceremony, view the troop's online photo album.

New Boy Scouts from Pack 29 include  (left to right), front row:
Everett, Ethan, Clayton, Jason, and Joe; middle row: Aiden, Creighton,
and Jack; back row: Scoutmaster Andrew Baird, Rusty, senior Troop 50
Scouts Davis and Andrew, and Ryan.

We're excited about the addition of our newest Scouts and wish them all much success on their Trail to Eagle!

Home of the Brave

Troop 50 and Webelos, with our tour guide Tiffany, at the entrance
to the National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning

        In place of a February campout, the Patrol Leaders Council chose to take a day trip on Saturday to the National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia. The Museum, which opened in 2009, tells the story of U.S. Army Infantrymen from the American Revolution to the present day. The facility hosts over 300,000 visitors every year, including current Fort Benning soldiers, who are required to visit as part of Basic Training. The museum includes both indoor and outdoor exhibits, an IMAX theater, and two interactive simulators. The troop participated in a guided tour of the indoor exhibits and both simulations. In addition to Troop 50 Scouts, the group also included a number of Webelos Scouts and parents from Packs 29 and 811, who will be joining our troop in the next couple of months. 

       For the simulations, the troop split into two groups. One group headed to the rifle range, where they had the opportunity to shoot simulated M4 rifles. The rifles used lasers to simulate live fire. The second group entered the mission simulator, which featured a three station overwatch post and a simulated Humvee with two seats and a upper gunner's station. Both faced a large three part video projection screen on which the Scouts viewed their scenario. This simulator functioned much like a live action video game.

        The scenario was a mission to rescue international aid workers who were trapped in a village during an insurgent attack. Both stations viewed the scenario from their own point of view - the Humvee crew as they traversed the landscape in a convoy to rescue the aid workers and the overwatch soldiers as they covered the convoy from above. The scenario ended as they made their way back into the American base. After completing their simulation, the two groups of Scouts swapped places between the rifle range and the mission simulator. Some of the adults also participated in the simulations and everyone agree that they were a blast.

  
       
        Next, our tour guide Tiffany, who is a Scout parent with Troop 128, led us through the various galleries of the museum. We first went through the Last Hundred Yards exhibit. This exhibit gets its name from the fact that the infantry owns the last hundred yards of the battlefield. Airplanes, artillery, and tanks do their part on the battlefield but the infantry directly confronts the enemy in the last hundred yards of the attack. Life-size wax figures portrayed U.S. Army infantry soldiers in combat from the American Revolution, Civil War, World Wars I & II, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq. It gave the scouts a visual history lesson and an understanding of the sacrifices made for our country. Equally impressive was the parade field that we were shown behind the museum. The field is used for graduation ceremonies from the various programs taught at Benning. Tiffany informed us that dirt collected from all of the battlefields depicted in the Last Hundred Yards exhibit is mixed into the soil on the parade ground. The army now considers it hallowed ground and they only allow veterans and active duty soldiers to enter the field.

       Following the guided tour, the troop fixed sandwiches for lunch and then spent some free time in the museum or the outdoor exhibits. Overall, the trip provided a good chance for the troop to interact with the Webelos who will soon be part of our unit. At the PLC on Monday evening, the consensus was that this was a great opportunity to learn something and have fun at the same time. Several Scouts mentioned the simulations or various exhibits as their favorites. Vincent told of seeing a statue of Rick Rescorla among the outdoor memorials. Rescorla was a platoon leader in Vietnam who later died on 9/11 after safely evacuating 2700 people from the World Trade Center. John noted that it was "pretty cool" that they had soil from the Last Hundred Yards battlefields spread on the parade field. It seems our trip served to inspire as well as teach everyone about the values we should all aspire to embody.

        For more photos, see the online photo gallery.