Scouts honor life of former president
01/10/2007
Scouts honor life of former president
Local Boy and Girl Scouts travel to Grand Rapids to pay respects during funeral ceremonies for Gerald R. Ford
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Boy Scouts turned out by the thousands last Wednesday in Grand Rapids to pay their respects to Eagle Scout and former President Gerald R. Ford, who died December 26.
Three local scouts were among the respectful throng who lined the roads as the funeral procession traveled from the president's Museum to the Grace Episcopal Church for the service and back to the museum for internment. Chris Stein and his two sons, Karl, 22, and Greg, 20, both Eagle Scouts, attended the "once in a lifetime event and saluted the hearse along with their peers as it passed.
They honored the only Eagle Scout who has served as president so far.
"It kind of presented a few dynamics in scouting that I hadn't seen before: the overwhelming support of the scouting community for President Ford and his family there were Boy Scouts everywhere, said Greg Stein, a student at Michigan State University. "The second of which was how much Boy Scouts were recognized during the whole thing.
The Steins noticed this recognition the morning of the funeral when they arrived at the museum thinking it was too late to pay their respects given the long lines of mourners. However, in keeping with the Ford family's wishes, any scouts in uniform were immediately escorted to the front of the line, saving them hours of waiting.
"During the viewing, it was very solemn going into the museum, said Karl, a senior at Eastern Michigan University. "It was very quiet, no one was making a sound.
Local members of the Girls Scouts' Mackinac Island Honor Scouts also traveled to Grand Rapids last week to pay their respects. Gathering with other Mackinac Island Honor Scouts, which is comprised of about 60 girls from multiple troops in west Michigan, the girls honored their own special connection to the former President.
"He actually served with the first Eagle Scout troop on the island, noted Ashley Steele, a senior homeschool student who has been a member of the Honor Scouts for six years. "It was actually pretty cool because one of the things that they actually teach us is that he was an Honor Scout.
Like their male counterparts, these Honor Scouts lined the road to show their respect for the president and his family as the hearse passed by.
"It was an awesome honor to be able to participate in something like this because it is a once in a lifetime thing and we can pay our respects to someone who did so much for our country, said Steele, adding of the surviving Fords: "The family were wonderful, they were actually waving to everyone as they went down the road.
Mark Ewing, the senior district executive from the Scenic Trails Council, traveled to Grand Rapids with the Steins and four more scouts and adults. Ewing recalls seeing President Ford when he visited the Traverse City area in 1975 during the National Cherry Festival. Not yet an Eagle Scout himself, Ewing said Ford's visit spurred him on to finish his quest.
"He was somebody at the national level, the President of the United States kind of inspired me, said Ewing.
When he learned of the funeral plans in Grand Rapids, Ewing was determined to attend after watching some of the earlier proceedings on television. "There were four boys there from Gaylord that we ran into down there also from our council and we heard there were some scouts from Cadillac, said Ewing of northern Michigan's representation. "There were thousands of scouts down there from all over the state but mainly from the Gerald R. Ford council, which is the name of the council in Grand Rapids.