MOUNT VERNON — Sunday marked a historic occasion in Knox County’s boy scout community. For the first time in the county’s history, three young men from the same troop were named ‘Eagle Scouts’ on the same day.
Sam Wendt, Billy Davis and Josh Egan, of Troop 332 and St. Vincent de Paul Church, were honored at the church in front of friends and family. The Eagle Scout rank is the highest of its kind, as less than four percent of all youth who join Boy Scouts of America ultimately earn the honor.
“This feels pretty good today because I’ve been a part of these boys’ lives for the past 10 years,” assistant scoutmaster Jon Green said before Sunday’s ceremony. “Typically, you’re going to have an Eagle Court of Honor for one scout, maybe two. Some places, though, they’ve had as many as six at a time. It just depends on where you’re at. We’re very fortunate with these three boys today.”
The ceremony was filled with stories from the boys and their scoutmasters, who had seen them develop since they began as Tiger Cubs 11 years ago.
“We’re not here to brag about what you’ve done, we’re here to brag about what you’re supposed to be doing from now on,” Knox County Eagle Scout Advancement Chairman John Neighbarger told the scouts during the ceremony.
After comments from scoutmasters and prayer with Father Mark Hammond, the boys were given their Eagle Scout badges. The scouts then presented honorary pins to their parents and mentors, which was followed by the Eagle Scout Charge and a thunderous applause.
Following the ceremony, the troop’s newest Eagle Scouts reflected on the work they put in to earn this honor. They had to not only acquire a certain number of merit badges and attend a number of scoutmaster conferences, but also had to complete an ‘Eagle Project,’ which was an approved act of community service that had to be completed by the age of 18.
All three boys helped revitalize the St. Vincent de Paul School in different ways. Wendt took out the school’s old lockers and built and installed wooden cubbies “so that they were a lot more accessible and clean.” He also redid the sound paneling in the cafeteria to keep the noise level down. His project took him over six months.
Davis converted an entire bathroom into a storage room at the school. Egan renovated the middle school teacher’s lounge. He also redid the middle school’s bathroom and storage room, repainting walls and shelves.
“Being a scout has been a blessing to me,” said Egan, who also starred as a football player during his time at Mount Vernon High School. “It’s helped me in the classroom and on the field. It’s made me learn leadership qualities that I can help other people with. It’s really taught me how to be there for people when they need me.”
“It helps you learn how to lead before everybody else does,” Wendt added.
Going forward, scoutmasters noted that the rank of Eagle Scout will likely help the boys with future job opportunities. All three boys are set to begin college next fall — Wendt will be studying criminal justice at The Citadel, Davis will be studying entrepreneurship at High Point University (N.C.) and Egan will be majoring in education and minoring in coaching and leadership at Marietta College.
“Going forward, I’m going to try to take this — take the skills and the qualities that I’ve gained through scouting — and use it to try to create more opportunities and more great things in the future,” Davis said.
While all three boys went to different high schools — Wendt to Newark Catholic, Davis to St. Charles Preparatory School and Egan to Mount Vernon — sticking with boy scouts has helped them maintain a friendship that began in their kindergarten days.
Wendt also noted that their bond helped them complete their rigorous Eagle Projects during a busy senior year of high school.
“We kind of pushed each other,” Wendt said. “It wasn’t a competition, but I know if Billy gets his done then I can get mine done, so we just kind of fed off of each other.”
Before the newly badged Eagle Scouts were able to embrace friends and family after the ceremony on Sunday afternoon, scoutmaster Doug Clark provided perspective on the occasion.
“It’s an important part of growing up because the Eagle is not an accomplishment; it’s a journey,” Clark said. “And you can’t do that journey in just a short period of time. So it’s very important that they’ve gotten this far and that they’ve had the chance to do what they’ve done.”
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