Eagle Scouts Earn a High-Flying Reward

More than 150 San Diego-area Boy Scouts who in the past year have attained the highest rank--Eagle are going to take a spin around the county next month.

In a PSA jetliner.

The 35-minute congratulatory flight is called, appropriately, “Soar with the Eagles,” and it’s a tribute to the teen-age boys for having excelled in scouting and community service.

And they’ve chosen a gem of a year to become an Eagle. This is the diamond jubilee--the 75th anniversary of Boy Scouts of America. Throughout the county, Cub Scout packs and Boy Scout troops are holding birthday parties.

In San Diego, it seems that scouting has survived a crisis of sorts. In 1971, there were 33,000 Scouts in the county, the most ever. Seven years later, though, there were only 17,000 Scouts. Now, the number’s back up to 31,000 and still climbing. (Add to that number the 10,000 mom and dad volunteer Scout leaders.)

Why the incredible drop in membership in the 1970s? “I think it was the fallout of the ‘60s, with people moving away from patriotism. It affected their children,” said Chuck Smith, the spokesman for Boy Scouts in San Diego.

“But around 1980, with the Iranian hostage situation, people began to unite and patriotism was popular again. Patriotism is nothing new to scouting. When we as adults show respect for our nation, so do our children,” he said.

In San Diego, as is the case nationwide, about one of every five boys joins the Boy Scout organization (which also includes Cub Scouts and Explorer Scouts). “Yet, 65% of all college and university graduates are Scouts, 53 of the original 65 astronauts were Scouts, and 2 of every 3 Rhodes Scholars are Scouts,” Smith said.

President Reagan was a Scout. President Carter was a Scout. And so was President Ford before him. But President Nixon, according to Smith, was not a Scout.

Draw your own conclusions.

Junk Mail Can Be Fatiguing

If you don’t have any young men or women in your household, maybe you haven’t seen the most recent Army recruiting letter.

In Del Mar, James and Christopher Ray each got an envelope in the mail the other day that contained more Madison Avenue slickery than most time-share teasers.

The Army package contained an opening three-page letter (“Dear Friend,”), a question-and-answer brochure, a one-page insert promoting its college scholarship fund ($15,200), another insert enticingly headlined, “Up to $8,000 Cash Bonus,” and this final grabber:

“Don’t miss out! Get full details on choice of Active Army/Army Reserve opportunities. Mail (this) card today for info and free gift (a digital watch). No obligation.”

Latest Line on Birds

Of all the telephone hot lines in San Diego County, 435-6761 may be the most unusual.

What you get is a recording of a woman’s soft voice telling the caller, “Evening grosbeaks have reappeared on Mt. Palomar along the road between the store and the observatory . . .

“A glaucous gull was reported from south San Diego Bay in the ponds south of the marine biology study area . . .

“The Bendire’s thrasher is continuing to be seen in Coronado, in the 900 block of B Avenue . . .

“The greater pewee is assumed still to be present in Presidio Park . . . “

This is the San Diego Rare Bird Alert. Any ornithologist worth his weight in field glasses knows this, of course.

Such rare bird hot lines operate in cities all over the United States, but San Diego’s is one of the more lively ones because, of the 800 or so species of birds in North America, about 450 species--many of them vagrant--have appeared in San Diego County at one time or another, according to Elizabeth Copper, who updates the rare bird alert tape recording.

Perhaps only along the Gulf Coast of Texas can more species be found, she said.

The rare bird alert is used not only by local bird watchers but by out-of-towners who come here on vacation or bird-watching trips and want word on the latest spottings. The alert’s phone number is published in bird-watching publications.

There’s a sort of competition among local, hard-core bird watchers to see who can contribute the most rare bird spottings for the alert tape, Copper said.

Up to 10 calls a day are received during the peak fall months, and two or three a day are received in the spring, she said. The tape is updated every time an important bird is spotted. If the caller’s reputation as an accurate bird watcher is not known, someone else is sent out to verify the sighting.

After all, they don’t want anybody mocking their bird calls.

Duty on the March

Are you one of those cynics who thinks mayors of small towns do nothing but cut ribbons and turn shovels of dirt? Bite your lip!

Carlsbad Mayor Mary Casler, according to a City Hall press release, has “officially activated” a new crossing signal in front of the Army-Navy Academy on Carlsbad Boulevard.

After she pushed the button, Army-Navy cadets marched across the crosswalk.

Presumably she won’t be the full-time crossing guard.