Springfield
News Leader – Monday November 12, 2006
Eagle Scouts celebrate award,
friendship.
Three of the six members of Troop 201 have been in
the organization since kindergarten.
Susan Atteberry Smith
For the
News-Leader
Ozark — Among them, they've earned more than 200
merit badges, and, sticking together, they've probably made at least as
many memories.
Now, a dozen years since three of them were Tiger Cub Scouts in
kindergarten, the six members of Troop 201 have earned Boy Scouts of
America's highest honor.
In a court of honor ceremony Saturday at Ozark High School,
Scoutmasters, community leaders, parents, grandparents and friends
celebrated with Adam Griffeth, Mark Hall, Cory Huck, Joseph Pieczynski,
Colton Smith and Evan Wammack as they received their Eagle Scout awards.
"I used to be taller than these guys, and now they've got me by
four or five inches," quipped Scoutmaster Chet Griffeth, Adam's
father.
He and fellow Scoutmasters Alan Suiter and Stan Huck told stories
about the troop's adventures outdoors together.
Griffeth told about the time a wild turkey flew into Wammack's tent.
Suiter remembered the time an ill Pieczynski — "I don't know
whether it was altitude sickness or the Chinese restaurant" —
practically crawled up the
Rockies
on a hiking trip.
Reminiscing about the fun of growing up in Scouting wasn't the
ceremony's only purpose.
Missouri Rep. Ray Weter recognized the boys for community service.
Ozark
High School
senior Smith, for example, worked to improve the playground at a local
preschool.
"Do you realize that only five out of every 100 boys get to be
an Eagle Scout?" asked former state Rep. Jerry Bough, who knew the
Scouts as students at Ozark Junior High, where he was principal until he
retired. "And the reason? Hard work."
For the Scouts, the ceremony also marked many years of friendship. It
may be rare enough for a Boy Scout to complete the achievements needed
to reach the rank of Eagle Scout, but it may be even more rare for him
to reach that rank along with friends he's had since elementary school.
"It's almost a brotherhood," said Hall, 17, who, with
Griffeth and Smith, became a Tiger Cub in kindergarten. "If we have
a problem, we all talk about it. It's really cool."
Hall said the friendship of fellow troop members — and the
adventures they had together — kept him interested in Scouting as he
entered his teen years.
One of his favorite adventures: a 70-mile hike at Philmont Scout
Ranch in
New Mexico
.
Backpacking in the Rockies and whitewater rafting on the Colorado
River have been favorite memories of Cory Huck, 19, a
University
of
Missouri-Rolla
sophomore who, at 15, was the last to join the troop.
Burned out on sports four years ago when classmate Brett Durbin —
also an Eagle — invited him to join, Huck said he "just kind of
jumped right into being a leader in the troop," noting that
Scouting has taught him loyalty, responsibility and communication skills
he's been able to draw on in college.
And, he added, "I can go to the woods, and I can do what I need
to do to survive."
The troop has a strong chance of surviving beyond graduation at
Ozark
High School
next spring, especially since four of the Scouts plan to attend UMR with
Huck.
Adam Griffeth is one. And on Saturday, the new Eagle Scout was
already looking to his next achievement:
"Really,
I think this is something to be proud of, but it's something we can use
as a steppingstone in life."
