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Expect a gathering of Eagles next week in Davis County.
They won't be the feathered variety that perch in gnarled trees and snatch fish from streams. Instead, these Eagles will wear uniforms and belong to the Boy Scouts of America.
Corbin LeBaron will receive his Eagle rank on Jan. 14 at a court of honor attended by 12 family members who have made a similar ascent in the Boy Scouts organization. His father, cousin and 10 uncles have achieved Eagle Scout, and will be present.
"With my family, [the Eagle award] has a lot of value and tradition," Corbin said. "I hope all my cousins get theirs. Excelling in Scouting is about excelling in life."
Only one uncle hasn't received the award.
Although young, the 15-year-old Corbin isn't the youngest member of the family to earn the Boy Scouts' highest honor. His cousin received the rank when he was six months younger than Corbin.
Corbin, a sophomore at Clearfield High, hopes having so many family members holding the high honor will counter the negative perceptions caused by Ervil LeBaron, a distant relative.
Ervil LeBaron, who founded a violent polygamous sect in 1972, died in prison while serving a sentence for ordering the murders of three sect members in Texas in 1988.
"He put mud on our name," Corbin said. "By continuing the [Eagle] legacy, I'm hoping we can dig ourselves out of the hole he put us in."
Part of becoming an Eagle Scout requires a service project to develop skills in leadership and social responsibility. For his project, Corbin assembled 600 personal hygiene kits for distribution through relief services by the LDS Church.
Corbin's mother, Lisa LeBaron, said she is proud of her son and the initiative he showed in finishing his project with little family help.
"Sometimes these Eagle projects become mom-and-dad projects," Corbin's mother said. "He needs some help from mom and dad like driving him here and there, but it [project] was his plan including the number of kits he wanted to make. He pulled it together."
Next in the Eagle pipeline is Corbin's younger brother, London, already an ambitious Cub Scout.
Corbin's father, Miles Lebaron, is an assistant scoutmaster who received his Eagle badge when he was 18. He hopes his son recognizes the importance of earning the Eagle rank, including skills in leadership and contributing to the community.
"Hopefully, he'll develop a love of service," Miles LeBaron said.
He agreed that Corbin earned the award himself, without "helicoptering" parents hovering around prodding him.
Martin Tyner, executive director of the Southwest Wildlife Foundation in Cedar City, rehabilitates injured raptors. He is familiar with Eagle courts of honor. He is frequently asked attend the ceremonies with a golden eagle named Scout.
Tyner typically attends more than 200 courts of honor a year, reaching from Texas to California to the Canada border. He said having 13 members in one family earn the Eagle rank seems high, but probably is not that unusual.
"I doubt it's a record, but it sure is a bunch," said Tyner, who charges a $1 a mile "donation" for his foundation when traveling to courts of honor outside the Cedar City area.
Becoming an Eagle Scout has special emphasis with members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which encourages scouting programs, Tyner said.
"It's a common belief," he said, "that a young man gets his Eagle, then goes on a mission."
When asked if an LDS mission is in Corbin's future, the scout said yes.
"I'm definitely planning on a mission," he said.
Eagle Scout Oath
"I reaffirm my allegiance to the three promises of the Scout Oath. I thoughtfully recognize and take upon myself the obligations and responsibilities of the rank of Eagle Scout. On my honor I will do my best to make my training an example. My rank and my influence count strongly for better scouting and for better citizenship in my troop and in my community and in my contacts with other people. To this I pledge my sacred honor." —
By the numbers • Boy Scouts
110.8M Merit badges awarded since the Boy Scouts of America was organized in 1910.
2.1M Eagle ranks bestowed during that period.
56,176 Eagles awarded in 2010.
21 Merit badges needed to become an Eagle Scout.
5 Percent of scouts who earn Eagle rank.
Source: BSA