Boy Scouts may earn Meriwether Lewis patch

The Meriwether Lewis Chapter and the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation have partnered nationwide with the Boy Scouts of America to offer Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Varsity Scouts and Explorers an opportunity to earn the Meriwether Lewis Commemorative Award patch.

Boy Scouts partner with Lewis and Clark Heritage Trail Foundation.

The Meriwether Lewis Chapter wants to encourage Boy Scouts to learn more about the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the final journey of Meriwether Lewis by offering an embroidered patch.  This patch can be earned by completing activities and projects along the Natchez Trace Parkway in the States of Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi between Hohenwald, Meriwether Lewis Park/Grinder’s Stand, in the north to Tupelo, Mississippi, the National Park Service headquarters, in the south.

Requirements to earn this patch should be completed with certification by the scout leader.  Scouts must visit the Meriwether Lewis Park on the Natchez Trace in Tennessee (Grinder’s Stand) and the Discovery Center in Hohenwald, keeping a journal in which they are to note the sites and dates visited along with what they learned while there, etc.  Scouts must also visit the National Park Service Headquarters and the Chickasaw Village Site on the Natchez Trace near Tupelo, Mississippi, recording in their journal information about the history of the Trace, etc.

In addition to the above two requirements, Scouts must choose and complete two other activities from the approved requirements list, such as, reading a book about the Expedition, performing an environment/conservation Good Turn, making a presentation about Lewis and Clark, or joining a Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation.

Many of these requirements will fulfill requirements of merit badges, trail patches, service hours, etc.  Scouts should check the merit requirement book to see what requirements they have fulfilled by doing the work for this patch.

Check the Foundation’s website,  www.lewisandclark.org, to get the application form and package of information about the Meriwether Lewis Commemorative Award patch.