Last night was the Boy Scout Court of Honor for our Linder Ward Boy Scouts. So sad to say but normally I really don't like going to these Court of Honors, I think they are boring. But this one was pretty cool. They invited all the scouts, Cubs on up, to come and any member of our ward who is in the Military or those who serve our country, police, firefighter etc. First they had an ex Marine come up and talk to the boys about Honor. I loved hearing his speech and I hope the boys learned something from it. I think it is always cool to hear from our Military because they have such a great perspective on what it means to be honorable and being a good citizen.
They gave out the awards next and Ryker was able to get his Tenderfoot award. The Mom is always asked to come up so the Boy Scout can pin her with a special pin. I know it is because the Moms always deserve a lot of recognition for helping her son get through the program. I really don't feel like I deserve it because I don't do a lot. Kefford helps Ryker more and his Scout Leaders are awesome at planning their meetings so that the boys can earn what they need to. But I am the Mom and I do a lot in getting Ryker where he needs to be so I guess I will accept it. As Ryker was pinning me I told him he had to give me a big hug and smooch. All I got was the hug, but that's OK, I will take it!
The second part of the program was spent with the boys participating in a retiring of the Flag Ceremony. It was really cool to watch and so neat to see Ryker being able to participate in it. I love seeing the respect given to our flag because it shows respect to our country which is something we need to always have. It gets hard because I don't always agree with our political leaders and I sometimes think they might not be showing the best respect for our Country in how they are choosing to run it. But I love this Country and what it can represent and I love the history of our Country. The Men and Women who have sacrificed so much to make it what it is is awe inspiring. That is what I think of when I see the American Flag and how can you not love or respect it. So watching this ceremony and these boys showing so much respect and reverence was amazing!
After the Scouts burned the Flags anyone in the audience who wanted to were then invited to help burn the rest of the flags. I think the Flags that were burned by the scouts were whole Flags albeit tattered and old. The ones that were not part of the official ceremony and that the audience members could burn, I believe were parts of flags. I tried to get good pictures of my girls but they were not remembering the camera and so I only got the backs of them.
No problem, I made sure to get one when they sat down. I am glad that they got to help participate and be a part of the burnings. I know they thought that was really cool!
