Planning an Eagle Project
What Really Happened

Paul Harvey talks about 'The Rest of the Story', so here it is. After "Fred" and I completed the planning, as described in this essay, we changed our planning sessions to be monthly instead of weekly. As we met, "Fred" reported his progress in completing the tasks outlined in his notebook. We also refined his task list to have more detail. As I recall, "Fred" ended up with about 30 tasks.

It took "Fred" about nine months, from the time we first started meeting, until the class was held. He had four teachers plus the genealogical advisor. Two of the teachers were non-LDS, and they appreciated being on his team.

"Fred" planned for 50 people, but around 70 people attended, and "Fred" didn't have enough chairs. We had discussed the "chair alligator" but "Fred" apparently didn't follow up on that discussion, and I didn't think of it as we held our monthly reviews. Fortunately, the Lord stepped in and helped "Fred" solve that problem. His father was in the bishopric, and he drove the 4 or 5 miles to the ward house and got more chairs.

All of the people who helped "Fred", especially the advisor and the teachers, felt the class was successful. Our stake president said that the class was so successful that he thought it should be given in every town in the stake (rural New England consists of many small towns). I felt that the project was a great growth experience for "Fred" as a person and as a leader.  And, that's what scouting is all about!