Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, August 4, 1994                   TAG: 9408180064
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: S-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By RANDY WALKER SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

EAGLE RANK HAS LIFELONG VALUE

``When I ran for office, I always put Eagle Scout on my list of achievements,'' the former congressman said. ``Nobody has ever questioned Eagle Scout.''

Olin, along with Steve Agee and Caldwell Butler, headed a gathering of adult Eagles at Holiday Inn-Airport in April. One hundred of the estimated 1,500 Eagles in the Roanoke Valley attended the fund-raising dinner, featuring a speech by Lt. Gov. Don Beyer.

During a recent search, the Blue Ridge Mountains Council identified 323 Eagle Scouts in the Roanoke Valley. Most of these received their Eagle award from the Boy Scouts' council based in Roanoke. Close to 100 were Eagles from other parts of the country, said Dan Clifton, Scout executive with the Blue Ridge Mountains Council.

Local Eagles include attorney Dan Brown of Woods, Rogers & Hazlegrove; Bruce Brenner, president of Cycle Systems; Houston Bell, president and chief executive officer of Roanoke Memorial Hospitals; Roanoke County Treasurer Fred Anderson; Judge John Ferguson of Roanoke Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court; and retired Army Gen. William B. Rosson.

In the Blue Ridge Mountains Council, which covers 21 counties and nine cities in central and Western Virginia, about 100 Scouts achieve Eagle rank each year, Clifton said. Recent Eagles include William E. Brown III of Salem, Troop 449; Charles H. Muncie of Salem, Troop 352; and Jason R. Mayhue of Roanoke, Troop 418.

To become an Eagle, a Scout must complete a community service project, hold a leadership position in the troop, earn merit badges in citizenship and meet other requirements.

``I thought the Scout training was one of the major influences on my whole life,'' Olin said. ``Mainly, it's a builder of character and leadership. It's a huge help as they go through school and later on. In Congress, there were quite a few members who had been Eagle Scouts.''

Butler, also a former congressman, cites ``the value of the associations and role models the program provided for me. It was very worthwhile.''

Steve Agee, former member of the House of Delegates, says Scouting teaches teamwork, leadership and individual initiative. ``For a teen-age boy, those are valuable lessons to learn, and they stick with you. Looking around the room that night [in April], they were all people who had achieved some degree of success.''

The vast majority of people who benefit from Scouting never achieve Eagle, Clifton said. However, Agee said the time and dedication required to make Eagle provide additional reinforcement of Scouting's lessons.

In the Blue Ridge Mountains Council, 4 percent of the Scouts achieve Eagle, which is twice the national average, Clifton said. One reason for the higher rate, he said, is camping and other programs offered at the Scout reservation near Pulaski.

The world has changed since Olin, Butler and Agee were young campers, but Scouting retains its value, Butler said. ``This is still a very worthwhile endeavor, in spite of many other things competing for kids' attention these days.''