MIDDLEBOROUGH — About 200 Scouts gathered outdoors at Camp Norse in Kingston on Saturday, Sept. 19, joined by dozens of adult volunteers, for a full day of learning and adventure. By the end of the day they had earned more than 180 merit badges.

The event was Merit Badge Mania, and the man who has run it for five years is Middleborough’s own John Burbage, an Eagle Scout, a grandfather and a neighbor in the Oak Point community. He answered questions from The G.O.A.T. News by email about the day, the volunteers who made it happen, and how local families can get started.

An Eagle’s compass

Burbage earned the rank of Eagle with Troop 50 of the South Florida Council in June of 1969. His Eagle project was the interior design and layout of the chapel at the United Methodist Church in his hometown.

“Once an Eagle, always an Eagle” is a phrase that has stayed with him through the decades. He describes it as a “true north” compass heading that steadies his path and keeps him on course.

Back to Scouting, and into leadership

Burbage’s involvement with Scouting in New England was fleeting until he moved here to retire at the end of 2019. Both of his grandchildren, now Eagle Scouts themselves, were in the program, and he wanted to help.

He began by registering as a merit badge counselor for all of the Citizenship badges, along with Public Speaking and American Business. During Covid he worked with troops over Zoom to help Scouts keep earning badges and hold their momentum. In 2021 the Narragansett Council asked him to chair Merit Badge Mania, an outdoor event the Council was trying to revive at Camp Norse. That was the first of five times he has hosted it.

Character building, day to day

Burbage’s LinkedIn phrase for his retirement work, “creating youth opportunities and character building,” sums up a rebranding born of concern. As a parent, grandparent and uncle, he says he is disappointed daily by the dearth of character in society.

His work is largely split between two roles. He is the elected president of the Oak Point Homeowners Scholarship Fund, a 501(c)(3) charity operating inside the 55-plus Oak Point community in Middleborough. It is the largest source of financial aid for Middleborough graduates, supporting students headed to college or into the trades. He also chairs the Activities Committee for the Narragansett Council, working with volunteers and Council staff to develop outdoor programs for Scouts at camps across the region. That team is now building School Vacation Week day camp programs for February and April 2027.

“One doesn’t have to become an Eagle Scout to gain character traits from Scouting,” Burbage wrote. Leadership, commitment and collaboration are a few of the life skills Scouts pick up alongside outdoor and survival training.

How it comes together

Merit Badge Mania takes about four months to plan and run. It begins in late spring, when Burbage picks a September Saturday that Camp Norse has open. From there he works with volunteers and Council staff to build a curriculum of 25 or more merit badges, plus a Scout Skills station where younger Scouts can work on rank requirements.

He and a few associates then recruit teachers, drawing on their own contacts and on registered counselor lists from the Council. Burbage visits Camp Norse during planning to coordinate logistics with the camp ranger and to line up sites around the property. Instructors need electrical connections and wifi, the dining hall needs cooks for lunch, and the archery and rifle ranges need specially certified instructors.

29 badges, and a few surprises

This year’s lineup offered 29 merit badges plus a Scouting Skills station, running alphabetically from Archery to Surveying. Eagle-required badges were well represented, including Camping, Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World, Communications, Cooking, Emergency Preparedness and First Aid. Scouts could also try Movie Making, Engineering, Fishing, Fingerprinting and Crime Prevention.

The Citizenship badges, Cooking and Rifle Shooting fill up fast. Burbage says he was pleasantly surprised when some Scouts signed up for Surveying and even Bugling, and that they earned those badges too.

Scouts from across the region

Participants came from units all over the Narragansett Council, which is based in Cranston, R.I., and covers all of Rhode Island along with portions of Massachusetts and Connecticut. Middleborough was well represented, with Scouts and adult leaders from Troops 20 and 64. By the end of the day more than 180 merit badges had been earned, and another 135 partial credits were recorded for Scouts to finish later.

The volunteers

The adult turnout was bigger than expected. The final count of instructors, leaders and volunteers landed between 65 and 75, and Scouting’s two-deep leadership rule means adults are always needed with each Scout or group. Burbage encourages parents who drop off their sons and daughters to stay and sit in on a class. “They come away impressed with what they see,” he wrote, and they provide a real service in the process.

Most counselors are registered instructors for particular badges, and the event also draws on subject matter experts from the community. Burbage’s Middleborough heroes come from both groups:

• The Baldwin family. Don, Danelle and their son Eric teach Engineering, Nature and Archery, respectively. They lead Pack 64 in Middleborough.
• Christopher Cowley. Burbage’s Oak Point neighbor, a semi-retired Transit Police officer who still serves part time in Wrentham, teaches Fingerprinting and Crime Prevention.

The Baldwins and Cowley have been there for all five of Burbage’s Merit Badge Manias.

“This is why we do it”

Asked for a moment that made it all worthwhile, Burbage points to the start of the day. Standing outdoors before a crowd of Scouts and adults on a beautiful morning, kicking off a day of fun and learning, “it moves me,” he wrote. It also makes his day when a Scout walks up and says it is their second, third or fourth Merit Badge Mania, and he likes watching first-time counselors leave eager to return next year.

Scouting in Middleborough today

Burbage welcomes the changes in Scouting in recent years, including girls joining the program. Given his interest in youth character development, he sees it as a positive, and says many girls have an interest in the outdoors that other programs do not fully provide.

He says Scouting in Middleborough is stronger than in many other spots around the state, with five active units:

• Cub Scout Pack 64, kindergarten through 5th grade, meets at Middleborough Town Hall.
• Cub Scout Pack 20, kindergarten through 5th grade, meets at St. Isadore Parish.
• Scouts BSA Troop 64, ages 11 through 17, sponsored by the Simeon L. Nickerson American Legion Post 64 since the 1980s.
• Scouts BSA Troop 20, ages 11 through 17.
• Venturing Crew 35, ages 14 through 20, serving Camp Norse in Kingston. Venturing follows the ALPS model, short for Adventure, Leadership, Personal Growth and Service, in a youth-led crew that picks its own path, whether high adventure, rock climbing or service. Its ranks parallel Scouting’s, with Summit rank as the equivalent of Eagle.

Getting started, and what comes next

Local camps offer a full slate of fall and winter programs. Annual events include Turtle Trek, Klondike, Webelos Woods, Merit Badge College and Merit Badge Mania. Summer camp and School Vacation Week day camps round out the calendar, giving Scouts a chance to earn a merit badge while trying something like metalworking or horseback riding.

For families who have never been involved, Burbage says the easiest first step is beascout.scouting.org. Enter your zip code to find a local unit, for young people and adult volunteers alike, and you are on your way.

Do you have a Scouting story or a community event you would like The G.O.A.T. News to cover? Let us know.

Barrella serves on the Middleborough Finance Committee and the Town Manager Search Committee. Burbage also serves on the Town Manager Search Committee. Neither body has a role in Scouting, Camp Norse or the Narragansett Council, and neither had any part in this article.