Council NESA Committee

[mt_goodrich]

I have been asked to be a part of the Longhorn Council NESA committee. I am seeing if anyone out there currently or has in the past served on a council NESA committee.

The area I have been asked to be involved in would be publicity/promotion.

I am looking for ideas. NESA in this council hasn't been very high profile. Also, one thing I'd like is to start having a dinner honoring those that have earned the award of Eagle Scout in the previous year. This council did that in the past, but quit doing so about fifteen years ago or so. No one really knew why it stopped. I am sure funding was involved.

Also, who here belongs to a council where special Eagle Scout CSP are available.

Trying to get any and all ideas.

You can post here or send directly to my email address that is in my profile.

[smtroop168]

We do not have a NESA chapter but we do have an annual Eagle Dinner in November. Last year's we had over 800 attendees. The dinner is heavily underwritten and raised almost $100,000. It is held in the Hershey PA.

[mt_goodrich]

We do not have a NESA chapter but we do have an annual Eagle Dinner in November. Last year's we had over 800 attendees. The dinner is heavily underwritten and raised almost $100,000. It is held in the Hershey PA.

Would you be able to tell me who does the underwriting for this dinner? Specific names not needed, but were those that underwrite the dinner businesses, individuals, parents, or others?

An attendance of that size is wonderful.

[smtroop168]

Send me an email reminder and I'll get a copy of the program and see who the big donors were. Mostly businesses like Hershey but some single donors. The parents/scouts and SMs were free attendees. Others paid $25/plate.

[Quailman]

My council has a get-together, but not a dinner. There are refreshments and special presentations - project of the year, Eagle of the year, plaques to fat cat donors, etc. They did it in an arena. We have about 1,000 Eagles per year, so with relatives and other guests it's quite an undertaking.

[scoutaholic]

I have been asked to be a part of the Longhorn Council NESA committee. I am seeing if anyone out there currently or has in the past served on a council NESA committee.

The area I have been asked to be involved in would be publicity/promotion.

I am looking for ideas. NESA in this council hasn't been very high profile. Also, one thing I'd like is to start having a dinner honoring those that have earned the award of Eagle Scout in the previous year. This council did that in the past, but quit doing so about fifteen years ago or so. No one really knew why it stopped. I am sure funding was involved.

Also, who here belongs to a council where special Eagle Scout CSP are available.

Trying to get any and all ideas.

You can post here or send directly to my email address that is in my profile.

Councils have a NESA committee? Never heard of such a thing around here. (Probably the reason I don't know much about NESA.)

Our council has done the Eagle Recognition dinner/breakfast in the past. I'm not sure if they are still doing it. Being one of the largest councils, there are several hundred Eagles every year. I've never been. It was usually poorly advertised, and more than I wanted to pay.

I know that Grand Teton Council has (or had) an Eagle CSP. It was included in the recognition kit when my nephew got his Eagle in that council. I like the idea. That type of special CSP would be far more valuable to me than some of the 'special' ones they currently do.

[Billiken]

Cleveland Council has an Eagle Scout Association.

Each year it plans an Eagle Scout Recognition Dinner (Luncheon), held in February.

Previous year Eagle Scouts and their Scoutmaster may attend for free.
Other guests pay $40/person.

Each new Eagle is paired up with a mentor/sponsor.
They/we pay $120.

Last year there were over 400 people in attendance (approximately 150 of the 250 new Eagles).

[Houdini]

NESA has developed several new committee resources since this thread was created in 2012:

NESA Committee Chairman Orientation Guide: http://www.nesa.org/PDF/542-202_LOW.pdf

Instructions for pulling a NESA/Eagle roster from ScoutNET (accessed by the council office): http://www.nesa.org/eaglerosters.html

Beginning in Spring 2011, every issue of Eagles' Call magazine includes a section called "NESA Committee Spotlight," which features a local council NESA committee and their activities. Back issues can be read here: http://www.nesa.org/eagleletter.html

NESA and other alumni resources: http://www.scouting.org/Alumni/Resources.aspx



NESA also has several new (and old) awards that can be used as the centerpiece for an Eagle gathering:

Distinguished Eagle Scout Award (national recognition) - http://www.nesa.org/distinguishedaward.html
NESA Outstanding Eagle Scout Award (local, state, regional recognition) - http://www.nesa.org/outstanding_eagle.html
Adams Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award - http://www.nesa.org/adams_award.html

[BartHumphries]

If you want all of that year's Eagle Scouts, etc., to be at a dinner, you just need to do a few things:
1. Present a cool patch to participants. Patches are Boy Scout crack, everyone wants a new patch. I have this really cool Council shoulder patch with a bas-relief multi-layered not-quite 3D eagle flying out of it that I picked up from one of those dinners in my Council. Worth every penny for that dinner and the patch probably cost the Council like $5.
2. Put it on the calendar as the annual NESA dinner honoring recent Eagle scouts, then invite everyone (and their families) who made Eagle that year (or the previous year or whenever, depending on when you have it). Spell out the price per person in the invitation, and maybe give a slight discount for each family member (like $40/person, $20 for each family member)?

That's it -- just offer a patch, announce it as a regularly scheduled thing that everyone attends, require RSVP's by a certain date, with a larger price if someone RSVP's afterward, mail something out to every boy (and their family), talk it up at Roundtables, see if any Unit Commissioners can pass the word along.

[jr56]

Interesting, I had no idea that NESA was active at the council level. My council has an Eagle recogniton at the annual council dinner, but I don't think NESA has anything to do with it.

[Bill Pitcher]

We have an annual local NESA chapter recognition dinner in the Rip Van Winkle Council. We invite last years Eagles and their families to attend. We pay $100 a head and council asks that we sponsor one or two of the new Eagles. NESA Eagle Scout of the Year is Introduced, Eagle Project of the Year is introduced and other donor groups/businesses are recognized. Held at A pretty fancy place, an even mix of uniforms and suits. About 200 attend, wish there were more!