Eagle Scout Centennial Parade Set for Sept. 8 in RVC

Long Island’s Boy Scouts of America will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Eagle Scout Award with a parade and ceremonies on Sept. 8 in Rockville Centre where in 1912, Arthur R. Eldred was the first Boy Scout to earn the rank of Eagle Scout.

The Theodore Roosevelt Council of Boy Scouts of America is sponsoring the Eagle Scout Centennial Parade that will step-off at 10 a.m. Units of Long Island Boy Scout Troops, BSA leaders, Eagle Scouts and dignitaries will march the parade route from Randall Ave. Parking Field No. 2  to Arthur R. Eldred Park at corner of No. Centre Ave. and Parkwood in Rockville Centre where a commemoration ceremony will take place.

According to Gary Twite of the BSA:

There was a troop of American Boy Scouts (an early rival to the BSA which had as its benefactor William Randolf Hearst), in nearby Rockville Centre, NY. The methods of the ABS revolved around military drills, which this troop held in the Rockville Centre Club.

However, Twite said that Arthur's brother, Hubert Eldred, "was so impressed with the ideals of the BSA that he decided to form what was to become BSA Troop 1 of Rockville Centre in Nov. 1910, and served as its scoutmaster."

After completing the required 21 merit badges, first national scout executive James E. West notified Arthur that he would be the BSA's first Eagle Scout in a letter dated Aug. 21, 1912.

For information about the parade, ceremonies and other anniversary activities, visit www.trcbsa.org or call: (516)797-7600.

Matt Hogan contributed to this story.