Three Washburn teens earned Scouting’s highest rank before heading to college last month.
Derek Cruz, Barrett Drost and Christopher Tardie received their Eagle wings in late summer, bringing the troop’s total number of Eagle Scouts to 52.
Only around 6 percent of Scouts nationwide achieve the honor, according to a Baylor University study for the Boy Scouts of America. About 35 percent of Washburn’s Scouts have earned Eagle status, said Scoutmaster Larry Harrison. This year’s Eagle ceremony was unique.
“Usually one Scout will do it by himself, but these guys were getting ready to go off to college, so they decided they wanted to have the three together,” he said. “It was our first triple ceremony.”
Harrison has been Washburn’s Scoutmaster for 46 years, and during his tenure has guided 46 of the troop’s 52 Eagle Scouts.
The path isn’t easy. Scouts have to earn 21 merit badges to advance to Eagle status, including first aid, emergency preparedness, camping, cooking and citizenship in their community, the nation and the world, according to the Boy Scouts of America. They also must plan, fund and complete a community service project.
The three newest Eagles chose projects to honor veterans, improve a state park and recognize a local educator and World War I hero. Each gathered a crew of fellow Scouts, parents and volunteers to help.
Cruz continued work at Washburn’s Veterans Memorial Park. Three troop members each created a part of the park in 2018, Harrison said. Cruz created the fourth Eagle project to benefit the area, adding five flagpoles and flags, representing the U.S. military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard.
The flagpoles cost $750 each, Harrison said. Cruz obtained donations and purchased materials, and he and his group dug the holes, put in sauna tubes and cement and installed the poles at the park. The flags are hoisted at veterans ceremonies and other local events.
Drost spearheaded some improvements at Aroostook State Park for his project. Maine’s first state park, located in Presque Isle, had several picnic tables with rotted tops and other parts, Harrison said.
Besides constructing and finishing new tops and seats for the tables, Drost and his helpers cleared brush along several sections of trail going up Quaggy Joe Mountain. Now visitors have better access to picnic areas.
Tardie adopted a memorial rock that has been in Washburn for more than a century, Harrison said. The memorial recognizes Elvin L. Allen, principal at Washburn High School when its first class graduated in 1906.
Allen started and coached the first boys baseball team in Washburn. Allen could not serve in the military in World War I because he was missing parts of his fingers, so he became director of the local YMCA. Much like the Red Cross, the YMCA would provide supplies to soldiers overseas. Allen went to France to deliver to the troops, contracted pneumonia and died there, Harrison said.
“The school system installed the rock and the plaque. They moved it a little when they built the new school, but it was still there, right in plain sight. But nobody ever knew what the rock and plaque were all about, until now,” he said.
Tardie and his crew created a pathway to the rock and built a garden and two benches, and Tardie added a plaque telling Allen’s story.
Most Scouts are around 18 when they complete their Eagle Scout requirements, Harrison said. Besides progressing through Scout levels and earning merit badges, they have to solidify a project idea, determine the costs and materials needed, and submit a proposal to the National Eagle Scout Association.
If the association approves the project, the Scout can begin. Once the project is done, the candidate submits a final report on the project, including documentation of Scouting achievements through the years.
Having three Eagle Scouts in a year is not that unusual if a local Scouting program functions as it should, said Tina Goodwin, registrar at the Pine Tree Council in Raymond. Pine Tree represents Scouts in the southern part of Maine, while the Katahdin Area Council handles northern portions.
Good leaders and programs inspire Scouts to seek their Eagle wings, Goodwin said.
“If you have a well-oiled machine, you’re naturally going to get Eagles,” she said. “The kids see that they are progressing at a fair rate and it encourages them to continue.”
Harrison attributed Troop 177’s success to the program his crew runs and the fact that the troop is so active. Harrison’s assistant Scoutmasters are Matt Cole, Dale Drost, Peter Deschenes, Donald and Pam Wilcox, Tim Roix and Loren Gordon.
They perform at many local ceremonies honoring veterans, conduct fundraising, staff a food truck and other community service projects, he said.
The group has its own building and camping facility in Washburn, as well as a converted school bus for transportation. They do a lot of traveling, which exposes Scouts to things they might not otherwise see.
As Scouting often involves families, so does the Eagle Scout journey. Eagle Gary Cole, a longtime troop volunteer, and his wife had four sons who achieved the rank, Harrison said. Tardie’s older brothers, Paul and Patrick, are also Eagles.
“It’s pretty remarkable,” he said. “It certainly gives them a step up in life.”
