By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
Seven young men officially received the rank of Eagle Scout at a special ceremony held on Sunday December 15, at the Philmont Scouting Museum on the Philmont Scout Ranch.
These scouts Carson Chatterley, Creede Chatterley, Colten Dunlap, Jacob Edmondson, Chance Kamp, Chase Kamp, and Christian Kamp, spent several hundred hours in preparation for this honor and then stood before the Board of Review to determine that they had indeed completed all the requirements to receive the honor.
All youth enter the Scouts, Boy Scouts of America program, at the rank of Scout. They then advance through the ranks proceeding from Scout to Tenderfoot, from Tenderfoot to Second Class, from Second Class to First class, from First Class to Star Scout, and from Star Scout to Life Scout at which point they are ready to advance to the rank of Eagle Scout. Along the way there are a minimum of 21 merit badges to be earned, 13 of which are required, the remaining eight elective merit badges are selected at the scout’s discretion. There is also service to be performed, leadership positions to be held and a minimum time one has to hold a given rank before being eligible for advancement. As a Life Scout, a scout must plan and execute an Eagle Scout Service Project comprised of approximately 72-man hours and then present himself before a Board of Review where it is determined if he has sufficiently met the requirements necessary to advance to the rank of Eagle Scout. The earning of the Eagle Scout award is the culmination of years of education, and dedicated leadership and service to his fellow scouts and the community.
According to Scout Master Jared Chatterley there really isn’t a set time to start and finish a project although the council likes to have them wrapped up within three months from the time the boys have their project approved by the council and the time they finish and submit their final report. What is important is the amount of man hours involved in completing the project. Although there is no longer a set amount of time the general rule is roughly 72-man hours to complete the project. The real purpose of the project is for the boys to assume and demonstrate leadership.
The projects included:
Creede Chatterley worked on a public service beautification project at the Raton Stinky Tunnel (pedestrian railroad tunnel underpass) where he painted a mural and did other beautification work.
Carson Chatterley worked on a project at the Raton Veterans Memorial where he did landscaping work and a fencing project to help protect and beautify the park.
Jacob Edmonson raised the material and organized the volunteers to construct eight dog houses that he then donated to the humane society for housing for stray dogs.
Colten Dunlap raised the materials and volunteers to make dozens of plywood bear deterrents (sheets of plywood with hundreds of screws drilled through them so that when they are place screw side up it keeps bears from stepping on or approaching areas the boards are placed around. Under the direction of Colorado Parks and Wildlife he also used 55-gallon plastic drums to create bear deterrents that when the bear enters the barrel placed on its side to get some bait it is sprayed in the face with bear spray. This is designed to discourage bears from getting into trash cans and dumpsters.
Christian Kamp worked with Sugarite Canyon State Park to build and install a raptors nest on the point protruding into Lake Maloya on the far end of the lake. He had to construct the nest and then float the pole across the lake and erect it on the point.
Chance Kamp worked with the City of Raton to layout and plant trees along Tiger Drive he also designed and helped install the irrigation system for the trees.
Chase Kamp worked with Sugarite Canyon State park to design and build special boxes to be used as habitat/homes for ducks and put them in strategic locations in the park for the ducks to use.
Wonderful accomplishment! Great job boys!