BSA Troop 80 celebrated its 80th anniversary earlier this year by welcoming four new Eagle Scouts and honoring six troop members for their volunteer service.
The troop has been chartered continuously by Highland Park Presbyterian Church since March 1944. The latest Eagles were the 260th, 261st, 262nd, and 263rd it has produced in its four score years.
The spring court of honor ceremony at the church’s Wynne Chapel included two special guests.
Darian Pace from the Marine Corps League presented the four new Eagle Scouts with the Marine Corps Good Citizenship Award.
Steve Stodghill, of the Texas Public Safety Commission, presented the President’s Volunteer Service Award to Owen Simmons, Kevin Carter, Matthew Carter, Tony Kohler, Knox Brookshire, and Aleksandr Stotland, who volunteered more than 1,000 combined hours. They could be among the last to receive this prestigious honor for a while. The program, created by former President George W. Bush, has been “temporarily paused.”
The new Eagle Scouts:
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Knox Brookshire, 15, the son of Keri and Michael Brookshire, is a sophomore at Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas. His Eagle project: He led a team that installed built-in bookshelves for the library at the Northwest Community Center (NCC). NCC serves the refugee community in Vickery Meadow by providing a place to learn English, do homework, and learn other skills to be successful in the United States.
Matthew Carter, 15, the son of Abbey and Chris Carter, is a sophomore at Trinity Christian Academy. His Eagle project: He led a group of Scouts, friends, and family to design, build, paint, and install an educational photo board for the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center in Lucas.
Anthony (Tony) Kohler, 17, the son of Kathy and Spencer Kohler, is a senior at Jesuit Dallas. His Eagle project: He spearheaded the construction and installation of an outdoor living space, including a dining set with benches and a storage box, for the St. Nicholas Group Home in Dallas. The home serves six residents with intellectual disabilities.
Aleksandr Stotland, 16, the son of Tara and Harvey Stotland, is a junior at Parish Episcopal School. His Eagle project: He partnered with BillionGraves, a nonprofit that preserves cemetery records so those who lived are not forgotten. He used the BillionGraves mobile application to capture images of headstones to help families find their relatives. In some cases that meant trimming grass and gently washing the gravestone so that a good photograph could be taken.
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