Utah: Scout central

SALT LAKE CITY — The headquarters of the Boy Scouts of America may be in Texas, but the \"capital\" of the BSA is in Utah.

That's what Utah Lt. Gov. Greg Bell said at what was believed to be the largest gathering of Scouts and leaders in the nation to celebrate American Scouting's centennial.

Some 2,500 Scouters gathered Thursday night in the Grand Ballroom of the

Salt Palace Convention Center for a sold-out anniversary gala, sponsored by the Great Salt Lake Council of the BSA. It was truly the celebration of a century, amid an ocean of Scout uniforms.

__IMAGE1__\"What a hoot! Look at this,\" Robert \"Bob\" Mazzuca, the chief Scout executive/CEO of the Boy Scouts of America from Irving, Texas, said in amazement as he looked at the huge audience as its keynote speaker.

For the fifth consecutive year, he said, the number of Eagle Scouts earned in the nation increased.

Of the record-high 52,470 Eagle Scout awards earned in the United States during 2009, 5,640 of them — almost 10.8 percent of the total — came from Utah.

\"We did not make it less difficult,\" Mazzuca said. \"Something is working out here.\"

He reflected on the century of progress in Scouting, but stressed it is really all about the future and the challenges that lie ahead.

\"There are 50 million living (Scout) alumni out there. The need is enormous,\" he said as he explained that Scouting is needed today more than ever.

The rare \"Honor Medal with Crossed Palms\" award was also given at the gala to two council Scouts, Cole H. Carlstrom and Clayton S. Holding. They had both risked their lives to try and save Cole's mother in what proved to be a fatal fall for her on Mount Olympus.

The \"Spirit of the Eagle\" award was also given posthumously to Pfc. Aaron Thomas Nemelka. a former Scout in the council, who lost his life at Fort Hood last November in the service of his country.

Earlier Thursday, a special Scouting in Utah report was given to Utah Gov. Gary Herbert at the state Capitol.

\"Scouting is strong in Utah,\" the report states, with 189,920 youth involved; 95,390 adult volunteers and 14,794 Scout units in the state.

Boy Scouts in Utah — through its three Scout councils (Great Salt Lake, Trapper Trails and National Parks Council) — provided 1.2 million hours of community service during 2009, valued at nearly $25 million.

Utah Scouts also earned 219,765 merit badges last year, and public contributions to Scouting in 2009 totaled nearly $7.3 million through the Friends of Scouting program.

\"Scouting