SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Youngsters involved in Scouting famously earn badges for things like fishing, music, even nuclear science. It takes 21 merit badges to become an Eagle Scout, the top rank of Scouting. And as St. Louis Public Radio's Lacretia Wimbley reports, one Eagle Scout in Missouri hit that goal and proceeded to collect every other badge on offer.
LACRETIA WIMBLEY, BYLINE: Scouting America's Court of Honor ceremony formally recognizes Scouts for their achievements. And on this day, it's being held for 18-year-old John Hayes. It begins with a Color Guard, Scouts from Missouri's Great Rivers Council dressed in tan and green uniforms, march in holding flags of the United States and the city of Lake Ozark.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Color Guard. Attention. Forward march.
WIMBLEY: That's followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. And master of ceremonies John Detzel (ph) talks about the importance of the Scout law as he reads from an old Scout handbook.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JOHN DETZEL: Here's my favorite ones. (Reading) A Scout is trustworthy.
WIMBLEY: As he continues reciting the law, a beaming Hayes wearing a sash full of badges stands nearby. Later, he talks about his merit badge journey.
JOHN HAYES: It all started back in Cub Scouts. I didn't really get the passion to get all the merit badges because I didn't about merit badges in Scouts. But I had an amazing den chief, Dave Weaver. He ignited my passion for Scouting in a very strong way. I started to love every bit of it.
WIMBLEY: It didn't take long for Hayes, then an 11-year-old new member of Troop 21, to set a lofty goal.
J HAYES: Did my first merit badge. Thought it was pretty cool.
WIMBLEY: That one was for space exploration.
J HAYES: Did my second merit badge. I was like, I want to do every single one of these.
WIMBLEY: And that was a big dream. The number of merit badges has grown over the years from just 14 in the early 1900s when Scouting began, to more than 100 by the time Hayes began collecting them. Amanda Hayes says Scouting gave her son opportunities to travel the world and learn some valuable life skills, like how to provide first aid. She also made a deal with him since there can be out-of-pocket costs for badges. She told him if he saved his money and paid his own merit badges, she'd handle everything else.
AMANDA HAYES: And he did that. He's paid for every single merit badge he did. I said, I'll cover the gas and my time. You cover all your merit badges.
WIMBLEY: And out of the 140, Hayes has a favorite.
J HAYES: Climbing was my favorite one. At the Lake Ozark Scout Reservation, I took the climbing ridge, like, seven to 10 times. Somewhere around there, which - just kept going back to do it. I loved it so much.
WIMBLEY: And the last badge he earned was for bugling. John Fabsits, Scout executive for the Great Rivers Council, says earning the merits does require a lot of time and energy, but it's worth it.
JOHN FABSITS: So it's an introduction, again, to those potential careers, hobbies, things to interest a kid on what they want to do with the rest of their life.
WIMBLEY: And Hayes has already made a decision about careers. He has a student pilot license and started flying airplanes a year ago. He wants to be a professional pilot, just like his grandfather, who is an aviation merit badge counselor, and he has a bit of advice for younger Scouts.
J HAYES: Keep pushing yourself, try harder and harder at things. It's good to fail, of course. That's a big thing with Scouts 'cause when you fail, you learn. And be a good person. I'm sad that it's all over, but I mean, it's good to have it done.
WIMBLEY: Now John Hayes joins a special group of just over 600 Scouts who earned as many merit badges as they could.
For NPR News, I'm Lacretia Wimbley in Lake Ozark, Missouri.
(SOUNDBITE OF AAESPO'S "HAPPINESS STILL EXISTS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
