Dan Bates served on the staff at Camp Maple Dell for at least the part of one summer when I was on junior staff there, in Utah’s Payson Canyon (1969? 1970?). Maple Dell is a Boy Scout camp operated by the Utah National Parks Council, B.S.A.
I remember Dan because he was one of those overachieving guys who had earned every possible merit badge — 121 at the time, if I recall correctly. By comparison, there are 21 merit badges necessary to earn Eagle Scout (which Dan is, also).
It didn’t go to his head at all. Dan was a great guy, from Heber, Utah, a small town up Provo Canyon in one of the world’s most beautiful valleys. Heber used to be separated from much of Utah by snow every year, but the roads are kept clear these days.
Once I asked Dan what possessed him to get every merit badge, and without pausing long, he said, “What else do you do in Heber in the winter?” It was a flip answer unexpected from the usually more sober Bates.
I think about Dan this time of year when the news stories start appearing about a new Scout, somewhere, who has earned every merit badge. One of the common themes of these stories: Has anyone else ever done it?
In The Press-Enterprise in San Bernardino, County, California, for example, the June 25 issue reports the achievements of Travis Cochran:
If Don Townsend was a betting man he’d put money on the fact that Travis Cochran is the only Boy Scout to have earned every merit badge and the Bronze and Silver Hornaday Medals.
Cochran, 18, of Cedarpines Park, earned 122 merit badges during his scouting career. Twenty-one merit badges must be earned to reach the rank of Eagle Scout.
There is a qualification in this story — Cochran also earned the Bronze and Silver Hornaday Conservation Medals — but you see the drift.
Alas, there is no central location for information about such achievements that I have ever found. Tracking the achievements of Boy Scouts, like the tremendous accomplishments of Scouts Dan Bates and Travis Cochran, generally falls to the local unit. Sometimes a local Boy Scout Council will have some information, but usually not.
History sneaks away so often because no one bothers to invite it to stick around.
Do you know of other Boy Scouts who earned every possible merit badge? We had one such Scout in the Circle 10 Council (Dallas) last year. How many others sneaked by without the hoopla they deserve?
Dan Bates, where are you these days?
Update, August 2009: Dan Bates has been found!
Dan wrote in from Mesa, Arizona, and the Grand Canyon Council — see his note in comments, below. Turns out I remembered it incorrectly — he had 100 merit badges, but not all of them. His brother got them all. Glad for the correction. Happier to have found Mr. Bates.
Other resources:
- 2007 Washington Post story on James Calderwood, Chevy Chase, Maryland, “Scout Soars Far Beyond Eagle”
- 2007 stories in Salt Lake City’s Deseret News, on Alex Recksieck, Dallin Manning, and Parker Duncan
- 2006 story in The Kansas City Star, on Austin Marlin, mentioning Jared Thatcher
- Unnamed father-son team from Erie Shores Council
- 2006 story in The Boston Globe, on Chris Talutis, of Milton, Massachusetts
- Added 8-2-2008: Roland Salatino, Troop 577, Dallas, Texas
- Added 12-30-2008: Shawn Goldsmith, Troop 240, Bronx, New York
- Added 1-3-2008: Raymond Adrian DeLeon, Jr., Venture Crew 1209, Austin, Texas
- Added 10-9-2009: Cameron Barber, Dallas, in 2007
- Please look for other stories in this series at Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub, listed in the category of “121 Merit Badge Club”
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October 29, 2009 at 8:08 pm
I’m SPL of Troop 562 in New Kent, VA 23141. I have not one, but TWO Eagles in my troop who have all the merit badges. They also happen to be brothers and at tonight’s meeting, they both got another palm.
August 16, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Dan! How nice of you to drop by.
You didn’t get ‘em all? Hmmmm. I’ll have to rat you out to the people pushing for the knot. No matter.
Good to hear you’re alive and Scouting. Personally, I think I’d take Heber over Mesa . . . but here I am in Dallas, so I can’t talk.
I’ll send you an e-mail, assuming you listed it.
August 16, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Just a little follow up note… Utah National Parks council at the time had a rule that a Scout could only feceive 3 merit badges a month no more. and so the 100 that I received represented a sustained effort of 33 consecutive months beginning with my 11th birthday and fishing ( my least favorite ) on the 34th month
DanBates
August 16, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Well this is an interesting twist! I heard about this website from the Varsity Coach affiliated with the Troop I work with at present in Mesa AZ Grand Canyon Council. I would be that Dan Bates of whom the writer muses. and although the details are a bit off ( I stopped at 100 Merit Badges and was the first youth in the State of Utah to receive the FULL Hornaday Medal as the requirements were written in those days and it was my younger brother Kent who got the full group of merit badges available at the time, and as we know the total number has fluctuated over the years with some being added and others being dropped or combined. Kent now lives in Greensboro NC)
I would love to hear back from the writer of the article. and a hearty Thank You for remembering me so kindly!
Dan Bates
July 28, 2009 at 9:04 pm
If this happened in 1970, then why does he have both the Climbing and Disabilities Awareness merit badges, both of which were introduced in the 1990s?
Furthermore, Sports was required, and no one wears both the Eagle badge AND the square not. Bologna.
March 22, 2009 at 6:11 am
[...] “Earning every Boy Scout merit badge” [...]
December 30, 2008 at 2:41 pm
[...] “Earning every Boy Scout merit badge” [...]
October 15, 2008 at 8:33 am
It would be great to design an Evolution merit badge. Based on Darwin’s “I think” tree sketch.
August 4, 2008 at 9:29 pm
I have been compiling a list of scouts who have earned all the merit badges during their time as a scout. Please visit http://www.meritbadgeknot.com to see the list. Please let me know of others that can be included in the list. Thanks!
August 2, 2008 at 12:20 am
Here’s another scout who has earned all 121 merit badges: Roland Salatino, of Troop 577, Circle Ten Council, Dallas, Texas, on January 15, 2008. What is more remarkable is that he was 13 years old at that time. He earned his Eagle rank on 10/15/07. He also has earned the Hornaday Badge, and is now working on the Bronze Hornaday.
(I am the Advancement Chair for Troop 577.)
July 14, 2008 at 8:30 pm
“History sneaks away so often because no one bothers to invite it to stick around.” Great observation that another blogger saw here and left on my site. I may quote you in the future.