Am I supposed to bring a gift for my Eagle Scout friend?

Question

A friend of mine is becoming an Eagle Scout, and he invited me to the ceremony and subsequent banquet.
I've never been to one of these before, and I need help on the customs.

1. What is the general attire? Semi-formal, formal, casual, etc.?
2. Do I bring a gift for my friend?

Answer 1

Dress is usually 'church nice' or 'almost business', but 'nice casual' is usually OK as well, especially for friends.

Gifts are always nice, but a nice congratulations card is perfectly OK from a friend. It is pretty common to add a few dollars, but not expected or required.

A decent general rule of thumb for this sort of event is the more they spend on you, the more you spend on them.
- Simple ceremony with lemonade and cookies- they get a nice card.
- Small light buffet of cold cuts and fruit- card and money
- Nice meal- nice gift (or more money in the card)
- Sit down dinner with lobster and a live orchestra- card and either lots of money or a big gift.

Another rule of thumb is to avoid the obvious gifts. Things with eagles or Scout stuff, unless it has a special meaning for you or him, will probably be done to death. (Similarly, teachers almost always have too much 'Worlds Best Teacher' junk.)

Answer 2

This is a pretty formal event. Your friend will be his uniform complete with merit badge sash.

If you are a Girl Scout or Camp Fire Girl of some sort, wear your uniform. Along with all the badges you've earned.

If not, this is not as formal as the Prom, so you don't need to go out and buy a new dress, but otherwise, wear the best most formal outfit you have.

Don't buy a gift. I've never seen anyone bring a gift to an event like this.

Even if he's not your boyfriend a kiss on the cheek to say, "Congratulations" would be appropriate but not required.

Don't forget to Congratulate his parents, since they went thru a lot of expense and work taking him to see 21 different merit badge counselors, etc. to help him get this far.

Eagle Scouts have an edge getting into the best colleges and universities assuming their grades justify it. Two students with identical grades for top notch schools, trying to get into a school like Harvard or Yale, the Eagle Scout will be accepted and the other won't be.

30 years from now he'll still mention on his resume that he was an Eagle Scout.

Pastor Art

Answer 3

There really isn't an easy answer. Most ceremonies are business casual/sunday best. Basically a nice casual look and well groomed.

Some people bring gifts, most bring cards. Depending on how well you know the person and your financial situation you can choose whether or not to bring a gift. Even if you don't bring a gift i would definitely bring a card, just something to let them know you are proud of the accomplishment.