The Martin Guitar Museum & Visitor Center hosted the Scouting Alumni & Eagle Gathering Oct. 17. Three generations of scouts were present at the annual get-together to enjoy a meal catered by Dickey’s Barbecue Pit and the opportunity to reconnect with fellow Eagle Scouts and friends.

BSA Minsi Trails Council Director of Development Donald Sachs explained what is changing and what will remain the same with the scouting program. He noted that the traditionally all-male Cub Scouts for ages 5-10 opened membership to girls in June 2018. With a launch date in Feb. 2019, boys and girls age 11-17 will be eligible to join the scouting program. “Boy Scouts” will be changed to “Scouts BSA” to reflect that new milestone. Sachs clarified that the boys and girls will be members of separate dens and troops. He said, “It’s going to give girls an equal opportunity to get to be Eagle Scouts and there’s not going to be any watering down of any Eagle Scout criteria. Everything’s going to be the same.”

Sachs saidthere are no changes in store for Venturing, Sea Scouts, and Exploring for kids age 14-20. These programs had already been available as same-sex and coed entities.

Claude Kohl, an Eagle Scout since 1956, who continued with scouting as an adult leader interjected, “I ran an Explorer Post with 25 guys and 25 girls and no problems.” He continued, “We got a tent from the National Guard with a divider in the middle, and I slept in the middle.”

Minsi Trails Council Scout Executive John Sumner encouraged those in attendance to join the National Eagle Scout Association.

Martin’s visitor relations manager Sherri Hoff related the history of how the iconic company found its home in Nazareth to an appreciative audience. According to Hoff, Christian Frederick Martin was born into a family of cabinetmakers who also crafted guitars. After feuding with the Violin Makers’ Guild over rights to make guitars in his hometown of Markneukirchen, Germany, Martin and his family emigrated to New York City, where he set up shop in 1833. He relocated his guitar business to Nazareth in 1839.

CEO Christian Frederick Martin IV is the sixth-generation owner of the successful family enterprise, said Hoff. She mentioned that her nephew just became an Eagle Scout in summer 2018.

Afterward, the scouts, spouses and guests went exploring the Martin Guitar Museum. They checked out displays featuring historic guitars and a variety of other stringed instruments the manufacturer built in years past, as well as vintage tools used by the luthiers.

The event was sponsored by the Minsi Trails Council National Eagle Scout Association (NESA) and Scouting Alumni & Friends Committee.

Find more information at minsitrails.com and www.martinguitar.com