ONE SCOUT'S SPIRITS SOAR.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
The way the Boy Scouts of America Noun 1. Boy Scouts of America - a corporation that operates through a national council that charters local councils all over the United States; the purpose is character building and citizenship training see it, that $2.50 has been repaid countless times over the past 73 years by Russell Meals - even if he disagrees. At 87, this remarkable man stills dons his Scouting uniform every weekend and reports for duty to help young boys grow up to become good men. That's where he was last Saturday, sitting in the audience at St. Luke's St. Luke's or St Luke's can refer to:
n. One who has achieved the highest rank in the Boy Scouts. Noun 1. Eagle Scout - a Boy Scout who has earned many merit badges Boy Scout - a boy who is a member of the Boy Scouts Court of Honor a court or tribunal to investigate and decide questions relating to points of honor; as a court of chivalry, or a military court to investigate acts or omissions which are unofficerlike or ungentlemanly in their nature. See also: Honor ceremony - ready to congratulate several boys who had obtained Scouting's highest honor. Russell, commissioner of the Los Colinas Scouting District, which encompasses 75 packs and troops in the West San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , had no idea the ceremony was just a ruse. No idea that there was only one Boy Scout receiving his Eagle Scout Court of Honor that day: 87-year-old Russell Meals. Robin Johnson Robin Johnson (born May 24, 1964), is an American actress. Johnson grew up in Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York City. One day when she was 15, sneaking a KOOL on the steps of Brooklyn Technical High School, a man (who has never since been identified) came up to her, told her couldn't believe it. She was sitting at a Court of Honor ceremony with Russell a few months ago when he happened to mention he had never had his own ceremony when he became an Eagle Scout in 1935. Johnson was stunned. How could this man whom she and her husband, Kent, had known for 22 years - a Scout leader A Scout Leader generally refers to the trained adult leader of a Scout unit. The terms used vary from country to country, over time, and with the type of unit. Roles There are many different roles a leader can fulfill depending on the type of unit. who had shepherded hundreds of teenage boys through the arduous and challenging task of becoming an Eagle Scout - never have received his own Court of Honor? Who deserved one more than him? His family had moved before the ceremony was held for his hometown troop in Sedalia, Mo., Russell told her. College was starting at the University of Missouri, followed by five years in the Army during World War II. Boy Scout honors - even the highest honor - gave way to the realities of life. He needed a job coming home from the service, not a ceremony. Russell got that job with the Pentagon for six years before moving on to the private sector as an engineer with several oil companies all over the country, including Arco in Southern California, where he worked 33 years before retiring. All the while spending his nights and weekends as a Scout leader in troops all over the country, most of them with his own sons. ``Every father wants the best for his sons, and getting them into Scouting is the best,'' Russell says. ``I've had so many wonderful experiences and memories because of Scouting.'' Sure, Kent and Robin agreed - but it still wasn't right. If anyone deserved a Court of Honor, it was this man who had given nearly three-quarters of a century to Scouting. What difference did it make that he was 87 now, not 17? Not a bit. Members of Meals' family were secreted in the choir loft when Russell walked into the church Saturday. He looked around for a printed program of the ceremony so he could see the names of the new Eagle Scouts being honored but couldn't find any. Odd, he thought, sitting down in a pew. There were always programs. Kent and Robin Johnson stood up and called for the honor guard to escort the Eagle Scout candidates to the front of the church. No one moved. Russell didn't notice the two men standing at the end of his pew. ``I finally looked up and saw my son, Russell Jr., and my stepson step·son n. A spouse's son by a previous union. stepson Noun a son of one's husband or wife by an earlier relationship Noun 1. , Rick Pittinger, standing there,'' Russell said. ``I was stunned.'' That's when a bad case of the sniffles snif·fle intr.v. snif·fled, snif·fling, snif·fles 1. To breathe audibly through a runny or congested nose. 2. To weep or whimper lightly with spasmodic congestion of the nose. n. 1. broke out in St. Luke's Lutheran Church, Kent says. ``People were crying as Russell's sons, both Eagle Scouts themselves, led him to the front of the church to receive his Eagle Scout Court of Honor.'' Russell sat in the seat of honor - an overstuffed o·ver·stuff tr.v. o·ver·stuffed, o·ver·stuff·ing, over·stuffs 1. To stuff too much into: overstuff a suitcase. 2. To upholster (an armchair, for example) deeply and thickly. chair - while dozens of young Eagle Scouts gathered around him. Then, Robin and Kent handed him his official Eagle Scout certificate from the Boy Scouts of America. To Russell W. Meals, Troop 52 - Oct. 24, 1935. ``I guess my sons were right,'' he said, smiling through his tears. ``They've always said I'm 17 going on 87.'' Yeah, I'd say Russell Meals has repaid that $2.50 somebody donated during the Depression in 1931 so he could go to Boy Scout camp. Dennis McCarthy, (818) 713-3749 dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Russell Meals, 87, receives his Eagle scarf from his daughter-in-law Carol as son Russell Meals Jr. looks on Saturday. Joel P. Lugavere/Special to the Daily News |
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