James Kinder III to be honored sponsor at annual Eagle Scout ceremony

Area Boy Scouts will honor some of their own Saturday.

The 60th annual Eagle Scout ceremony at 2 p.m. Saturday at Southeast Missouri State University's Academic Auditorium will honor Scouts who earned their Eagle rank in 2021. James Kinder III will give the keynote address, sing the national anthem and present each Scout with their medal.

Forty-four Scouts within the Southeast Missouri Eagle Scout Association's five-district area will be honored, and the ceremony will be the first time a female has received the rank as well. To earn the rank of Eagle, Scouts must earn 21 merits before their 18th birthday along with providing a project that benefits the community and go through an interview process. Only about 6% of Scouts achieve the rank of Eagle.

Tony Smee, president of the association, explained what type of projects the Scouts can perform.

"It has to benefit the community as a whole. It can benefit their church or something, but they have to plan that project, have it preapproved by a district advancement committee and planned out. They have to recruit volunteer or paid manpower to have that project carried out and then have to assemble a report of the project and have it reviewed by a board of review," Smee said. "That's very significant because when you put a 15-, 16-, 17-year-old Scout in charge of a project, it provides a pretty significant practical leadership experience for them that carries into their school life."

Kinder's neckerchief rests on the grave of Lord Robert Baden-Powell who founded the Boy Scout movement in Great Britain in 1908.Submitted

Kinder grew up in Cape Girardeau and is the oldest of four boys in his family who all earned their Eagle rank, and his father earned the rank in 1934. Now 71, Kinder lives in Virginia and works in urgent care as a physician's assistant at a hospital in Fishersville, Virginia. He previously worked 26 years in primary care in Cairo, Illinois.

"It's not just the Eagle rank, but the whole time in Scouts. It kept me grounded. I have to go back to the three parts of the Scout oath, duty to God, duty to others and duty to self, and that has been my bedrock for 60 years now since I learned it at the age of 10 or 11," Kinder said. "Then the 12 points of the Scout law, I love talking about the oath and the law and Scouting history and some of my remarks Saturday will reflect on a little bit of Scouting history. Oath and the law, that's really a big part for me."

When Kinder was pursuing the Eagle rank, the Eagle Scout service project had begun the year before in 1966 and had not been fully developed by the organization. For his community project, Kinder walked the dam at Lake Boutin in Trail of Tears State Park and planted fescue grass seed after being told by a park ranger they were needing it.

Along with presenting the Eagle Scout medals to the recipients, Kinder said he also has another special item to give.

"I have a personal gift for each one of the Scouts, which is a laminated photograph of the gravestone of the founder of Scouting. It's in Kenya, and he was a British military hero in the Boer War 120 years ago. He loved Africa and a lot of traditions in Scouting are taken from his time in Africa," Kinder said.