MLHS sophomore Michael Watkins earns highest BSA rank
That road not often taken.
Exactly the path 15-year-old Mountain Lake Public High School (MLHS) sophomore Michael Watkins chose to take on his trek in earning the rank of Eagle Scout – the highest achievement in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA).
Involved in Scouts for nine years, Michael has advanced through all seven BSA ranks – Scout, Tenderfoot, Second-class, First-class, Star, Life – and now – the coveted Eagle.
The designation Eagle Scout was founded over 100 years ago. Only 4% of Boy Scouts are granted this rank – following a lengthy review process. The requirements necessary to earn the rank take years to complete. Michael now joins the more than two million who, since the founding of the rank, have achieved Eagle Scout.
To reach this highest rung of the BSA ladder, Scouts, after achieving the rank of Life Scout, must be active in a troop in the areas of service and leadership. They must also live their lives daily demonstrating the principles of the Scout Law (A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent.) and the Scout Oath (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.)
In addition, while a Life Scout, BSA members are to serve actively in a position of responsibility, such as patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader, senior patrol leader, Venture patrol leader, troop guide, Order of the Arrow troop representative, den chief, scribe, librarian, historian, quartermaster, junior assistant Scoutmaster, chaplain aide, instructor, webmaster or Leave No Trace trainer.
A total of 21 merit badges are be earned, gained from the categories of first aid, citizenship in the community, citizenship in the nation, citizenship in the world, communication, cooking, personal fitness, emergency preparedness or lifesaving, environmental science or sustainability, personal management, swimming or hiking or cycling, camping and family life.
En route to earning the rank of Eagle Scout, the Life Scout is also responsible for an extensive service project that the Scout plans, organizes, leads and manages.
Eagle Scouts are presented with a medal and a badge. Additional recognition can be earned through Eagle Palms, awarded for completing additional tenure, leadership and merit badge requirements.
Michael, son of Dave and Tammy Watkins of Mountain Lake, joined Cub Scouts in first grade, following the encouragement of his dad to become active with some type of group. As a Cub Scout, Michael was not looking ahead to earning the Eagle Scout rank, “It was mostly learning about and doing new things – and having fun,” explains Michael.
After Cub Scouts, he moved on into Boy Scouts. It was during his time at this level that Michael’s interest in becoming an Eagle Scout was initially piqued. “What gave me the idea of becoming an Eagle was when I saw a photograph in Boy’s Life magazine (a Boy Scout-published magazine) of a ring that could be purchased once Eagle was made,” Michael states in looking back over his years in Scouting. “From then on, my goal was to make Eagle.
“Boy Scouts is often described as ‘that road not often taken,'” Michael says in reflection. “Very few try it, and some try, but then turn back around and leave. Boy Scouts teaches life skills and trains participants for the real world. Scouts also builds levels of respect and responsibility in the individual.”
Michael’s Eagle Scout project was two-fold in support of the 241-square-acre Mountain Lake. Explains Michael, “I put up wood duck houses around the Mountain Lake Trail and also made and ‘planted’ eight posts along the trail that mark historical and geographical landmarks, as explained in the trail’s map.”
Working with the landmark locations and the numbered posts for as long as he did, Michael now knows well the significance of each marker:
+ 1 – First Island Boy Scout cabin remnants, constructed in 1946.
+ 2 – Scenic overlook of Mountain Lake, created in the late 1930s through the efforts of the Village of Mountain Lake and the Works Progress Administration.
+ 3 – Eastern Red Cedar trees – the only evergreen native to southwestern Minnesota. Cedars can live 800 years and have a rot-resistant wood.
+ 4 – Mountain Lake Watershed that is about 10-square-miles. Half the water entering the lake comes from Eagle Lake through the stream this post marks.
+ 5 – Cottonwood trees from which Cottonwood County gets its name. The twin giants at this spot are over 75-years-old, 130-feet tall and combined, weigh over 47 tons.
+ 6 – Type 2 Wetlands that is without surface water most of the year, but is generally saturated below the surface. The lake is a Type 5 wetland which has water up to 10-feet deep.
+ 7 – Second Island which is originally only an island during high water. The swampy area on its west end was filled to create the peninsula It is now a State Wildlife Management Area.
+ 8 – Food Forest planted with over 12 varieties of edible fruits and berries, including plums, raspberries, currants, elderberries, serviceberries and apples that are planted in three plots in Lawcon Park.
During Michael’s years as a Boy Scout, many of Mountain Lake/Butterfield/Odin Troop’s projects, under Scoutmaster Jason Kruser, centered around the Boy Scout cabin located at Butterfield Lake, and on the trail around the lake. The Scouts have painted the cabin two or three times, and spent many hours completing repairs on the structure after it was vandalized and destroyed multiple times. The entire building was recently updated, with cement placed in its walls so that its destruction is prevented. According to Michael, “The cabin is used for many recreational purposes. For us (the Boys Scout Troop), the cabin is used to store supplies while camping.” Many hours have also been spent by the Scouts clearing branches and brush off the path of the trail.
Of the required merit badges completed, Michael is most proud of his woodcarving badge, explaining, “I had more fun on that badge than any other badge. The most difficult badge – communications,” states Michael. “It took me six months to complete, with all of the speeches to be made and additional requirements.”
As Michael kept making steady progress towards his goal of making Eagle, he was inspired along the way by the pastors of his church, Peter Kufahl and Ben Perkins, along with Jim Crawford and Jim Peterson. “They were great guides as I achieved my merit badges, worked on the special projects – and in life itself.
“Being in Boy Scouts has totally prepared me for whatever may come my way,” emphasizes an assured Michael.
