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Brad Bennett, age 21, was a featured speaker at a
gathering of more than 5,000 Boy Scouts. He
worked as a guide on multi-day canoe trips in
challenging Minnesota waters at the Boy Scouts’
Northern Tier High Adventure base. He back-packed
through the rugged, northern New Mexico
wilderness at the Philmont Scout Ranch. He
learned how to be a leader by motivating people to follow him
because they want to, not because they have to. He took home the
Scouts’ highest rank, Eagle Scout, and was a leader in the Scout
Honor Society, the Order of the Arrow.
But when you ask Brad what was the best thing he did in 11 years
On my
honor, I will
do my best
To do my duty to God and my
country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake and
morally straight.
of scouting, he doesn’t skip a beat: “One of
the coolest experiences was just being able to
hang out with my dad some more. It was neat to
have that connection to scouting through him.”
Brad’s father, John Bennett, is bursting with pride over his
son’s accomplishments and also relishes their time spent together.
“Those things we learned from scouting,” says the senior Bennett,
who has an outstanding 22-year record of service at both the Troop
and Council level as well as at the community level and has been the
scoutmaster since 1996 at Little Chapel on the Boardwalk’s Troop
232, “we carried into our family — the respect for each other, the
honesty, the working together and getting along, and the camp-ing.”
The Bennett family loves being a part of the long Boy Scout
tradition. Brad’s older brother, Aaron, 28, is an Eagle Scout, John’s
wife, Cynthia, is a committee member and their daughter, Megan,
took part in the Scout’s Venturing program, a popular, co-ed,
high-adventure scouting program for high school students. “Megan
wanted to be a Boy Scout so bad, she couldn’t stand it,” says John.
This year, the Bennetts, along with thousands of Scout families
across the country, are celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Boy
Scouts of America (BSA). The BSA is using this opportunity to
honor its traditions and prepare for its
future.
“I think what the first 100 years has done is
to establish a strong foundation for us to build on
because, to me, the real strength of the scouting program is
— Boy Scout Oath
the passing of it from one generation to the next, to the next,” says
Doug Clevinger, scout executive of BSA’s Cape Fear Council.
“It’s a wonderful program and has been for the last 100 years,”
says Ellis Tinsley Sr., chairman of the Board of Trustees of the
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