Four Named Eagle Scouts

Four outstanding young members of B7 Ward’s Scout Troop 817 were recognized as Eagle Scouts at a Court-of-Honor held Sunday, August 9, 2015.  Cache Bertschi, Luke Wilkes, Stephen Larson, and Bryce Nelson have now joined more than 2 million young men who, since 1912, have completed the requirements to obtain the highest advancement rank in Boy Scouting. 

Luke Wilkes, is the 15-year-old second son of Rob and Chardell Wilkes. His Eagle Scout project was planting trees along Pioneer Road to replace the ones lost to frost in the winter of 2013. He goes to Desert Hills High School but is very involved in and dedicated to Dixie High School's Air Force JROTC program.

For his Eagle project, Bryce Nelson, 15-year-old son of former B7 Ward member Emma Warner Abegg, grandson of Claude and Katherine Warner, great-grandson of Lloyd and Luana Warner and a student at Desert Hills High School, offered free identification kits for children and held an open house where he took pictures and collected fingerprints and DNA then put them together for parents. 

Cache Bertschi, is the 15-year-old second son of James and Anne Bertschi and a student at Dixie Middle School.  His Eagle project involved planting trees along the frontage road between Man-O-War Drive and the I-15 freeway.

Stephen Larson, oldest son of Aaron and Rebecca Larson and a 14-year-old student at Dixie Middle School, completed the requirements for his Eagle project by also planting trees, left dead and brown by a winter freeze two years ago, to restore the beauty of nature along Pioneer Road.

As new Eagle Scouts they promise, from this day forward, to “do their best each day to make their training an example, their rank and their influence count strongly for better Scouting and better citizenship in their troop, in their community and in their contact with other people.”

Scoutmaster Matthew Chappell told the young men, “Soon after I became your scoutmaster we were out on a weeklong Scout camp.   From my days of dairy farming, I usually wake up at 4 a.m.  Now the cows are gone so I use this time to study, plan, soul search and pray.  On one of the early mornings sitting in my tent I was taking some pity on myself, deciding it was a burden to be scoutmaster again.  Suddenly the following thoughts come to my mind: first, I became very conscious of my imperfections and the many ways I needed to improve myself. Then the following words came to me very crystal clear: "This group of boys is very important to me and I am letting you have the privilege of guiding them for a short while.  See that you do YOUR BEST."

The message was sobering and caused me to commit to having a program, which would let them have fun, grow, serve and achieve the rank of Eagle Scout if they would do their part.

Just as being a Scoutmaster is a privilege with responsibilities, so is the rank of Eagle a privilege with responsibilities.  Upon taking the oath of an Eagle Scout these young men have pledged to make their lives soar beyond the normal. My challenge to the Eagles and Scouts I may have helped is “ON YOUR HONOR, DO YOUR BEST.”

Thanks, young men.  It was a privilege being your Scoutmaster.

Congratulations to these fine scouts – and their parents – for this important accomplishment.