Eagles Never Forget, Islander is Honored

[Joel]

After forty-one years absence, two older Boy Scouts reunite with each other for the first time on Beaver Island this past weekend to honor one as an outstanding adult Scout and Island Leader.

Just past the fresh blacktop surface of King's Highway, during the quiet of an early August Sunday morning, on the back porch of Jim and Donna Stambaugh's home, the scene of a very special Eagle Scout Court of Honor was played out. An Eagle Scout Court of Honor from the past, only now it was rewound for the present.

This original Eagle Court of Honor for one youth of Troop 100 was held in the Fellowship Hall of the United Methodist Church of Sturgis, Michigan on March 26, 1973, but now it was officially reopened for one purpose: to honor an Island Scout Leader and retired teacher. The honor was for Jim Stambaugh, who is one individual who has, once again, shaped a young man's character with his quiet guidance and demeanor. A much wiser Eagle Scout, Joel Wright of Traverse City, MI, took this delayed opportunity to present to Mr. James Stambaugh, his more mature Assistant Scoutmaster, an Eagle Mentor Pin, a heart-felt Scout handshake, and a simple yet long overdue thank you.

Emotional to all in attendance, this Eagle Court of Honor was carried along upon the Scouting Spirit of fun as the re-minted Eagle Scout was given a chance for his long awaited Eagle Response speech. Taller tales and upbeat humorous stories were regaled to all about Mr. Stambaugh's earlier adult Scouting moments. Joel relayed one funny quip involving his mother's recent revelation on why she herself had personally dropped him off weekly at his Scout Meetings. Back when, she had a small crush on Mr. Stambaugh and his youthfully soft long black beard and mustache! To this day, how she knew that this Assistant Scoutmaster had a beard and mustache which were "oh so soft", remains a matter of pure conjecture.

Asked about why there was a lapse in time in presenting his Eagle Mentor Pin, Joel Wright made the comments that the Boy Scouts of America in 1973 did not have an official Eagle Mentor Award or a venue, as they do now, to honor individuals who have been instrumental in an Eagle Scout development while Eagle Candidates work towards this lofty Award. Joel then added, "Now, as adult Scout Leader, I better understand today a few more things about this higher level of volunteer commitment being made towards youth, then when I received my Award. Besides, trying to find Jim and Donna Stambaugh after they moved on to an island in the middle of Lake Michigan thirty years prior had to wait until a Goggle search engine was invented and they had established a digital web presence which would allow them to located!" In the end, this unique moment really happened because of many happen-stance conversations in and around Northern Michigan, Island friends, and all the planets coming into alignment surrounding this year's Baroque on Beaver Festival.

Jim and Donna Stambaugh, thank you for your efforts towards our youth. Jim, at this moment, your Scouting volunteerism has helped Joel and Alison Wright's son, Aaron Wright, to attain his Eagle Scout Award in 2008, but you also have a direct lineage to twenty-five other young men in and around the Lake Ann, MI area who have received their Eagle Scout Awards over the past ten years through Joel's assistance with them in their individual Eagle mentoring programs. Add on to Jim's total, fourteen other 1970's era Eagle Scouts from the Sturgis, Mi Troop and maybe a few from the Beaver Island Troop during his Scouting tenures as their Assistant Scoutmaster and a Scoutmaster, the number rounds up to be approximately 40 young men earning their Eagle Scout Award. Jim's early and continued inspirational guidance has touched many Eagle Scouts and this tradition lives on. This Eagle Tradition is being modeled now and for time to come not just by these 40 adult Eagle Scouts but quite possible by an exponential factor of 40. This Tradition is and always will be for the benefit of future male and female youth, all of which has been firmly based upon Mr. James Stambaugh's Scouting involvement and his strong personal character.

Who says that "No man is an Island," for they have not had the pleasure of personally rubbing elbows with Jim Stambaugh and to be around what Donna Stambaugh defines it as, "The Stambaugh Way!"