By CHRIS MORRIS
Chris.Morris@newsandtribune.com
>>SOUTHERN INDIANA —
The Boy Scouts of American are celebrating their 100th birthday in 2010. The George Rogers Clark District — which includes scouts in Floyd, Harrison and Crawford counties — is celebrating the milestone by making a little history of its own.
GRC is in the process of organizing a honor guard — the first of its kind in the area and nation. The group will be comprised of both Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts.
The honor guard will participate in parades, Veterans Day and government events, flag retirement ceremonies, as well as funerals. They currently meet two times a month at Georgetown Christian Church for training.
“It is going to be a spit-polish group,” said Al Holt, GRC program chairman. “We want the group to be ready to participate in a Memorial Day event this year.”
Holt said this is the first time in the district that an honor guard has been assembled. He said many times units are asked to participate in events and have little time to organize or prepare. He said the honor guard will be ready, and on call, when asked to perform.
“It’s never been done before and it’s pretty exciting,” Holt said. “The difficulties have been that since it has not been done, there were no rules. We are kind of establishing our own rules for the honor guard.”
Holt said everything is being done through Boy Scouts of America guidelines. Uniforms are currently being selected and organizers are looking for more members. He said he would like to have 30 members by the end of the year. Right now he has 11.
During each practice session, Holt has lined up guest speakers to help teach and motivate the members of the honor guard.
Brian Croft, 21, an Eagle Scout from Edwardsville, recently joined the group and said he was excited about having an honor guard in the district.
“I think it’s great. It’s something I think will really be used,” Croft said. “We are asked to perform in ceremonies all the time and now we will have a unit ready to go. Before, we would just have to throw something together. The professionalism just wasn’t there.”
Holt said the training and drills are difficult. He said there are many steps, and procedures, to learn.
“It’s something that takes a lot of practice,” Holt said. “It’s very regimented.”
Holt said once the unit is organized, it will be “boy run and boy led.”
There are 1,200 boys in the GRC District.
