Troop 1396 Scout gains Eagle honor

Lake Ridge resident Brian Hetrick was recently awarded the rank of Eagle Scout at an Eagle Court of Honor held at Leesylvania State Park.

In attendance were members of Boy Scout Troop 1396, chartered by St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in Lake Ridge, Brian's grandparents, and other honored guests, friends and relatives. Troop Assistant Scoutmaster Gus Sapien, a Woodbridge resident, was master of ceremonies.

The Eagle rank is the highest recognition that Boy Scouting offers. It is earned through the advancement program, and only 4 percent of boys who begin in Scouting receive this honor. It in interesting to note that only one in four boys in America will become scouts, but it is equally interesting that many of this nation's leaders in busi-ness, religion and politics, and other worthwhile endeavors, were Boy Scouts.

As part of Brian's requirements for becoming an Eagle Scout, he led and supervised his fellow Scouts and other helpers in a playground renovation project at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Woodbridge, where a day care center, run by Action in the Community Through Service, had been unable use their playground due to water damage caused by a water main break.

Brian's project was to remove rocks, fill in gullies, level off and mulch the entire area, build a sand box, build and add kids' picnic table sets, and spray paint the existing play sets. These modifications enhanced the play area and enabled the playground to be safe and usable.

Brian's project took five months to plan and a total of 211 adult and scout volunteer hours to complete. This project was extensive in scope and effort. It took 10 tons of sand and five tons of mulch. Brian was responsible for the entire project, planning and permissions, obtaining materials, equipment and volunteers, and supervising the project.

Through their service to the community, he and all the volunteers made an invaluable contribution by returning an unusable asset to full and productive use.

Brian is an exemplary young man, a fine role model for Scouting and other youth. He is a junior at Woodbridge Senior High School, is in excellent academic standing and participates on both the school's cross country and crew teams.

Chartered in 1989, Troop 1396 has now advanced 58 Eagle Scouts. This is a noteworthy accomplishment as signifi-cant time and effort are required to achieve Eagle Scout rank, both on the part of the individual and of the troop. Much of this success is due to the very active troop schedule and involvement of so many adult leaders. Troop 1396 now has over 70 adult and scout members.

Troop 1396 also held its end of summer Court of Honor in conjunction with Hetrick's Eagle Court of Honor and recognized other scouts for their performance throughout the summer, highlighted by the troop's summer camp at T. Brady Saunders, where 25 Scouts earned 82 merit badges. Three scouts also earned the World Conserva-tion Award and two were recognized for the Mile Swim. Having just completed their annual planning conference, Scouts briefed attendees on the upcoming year's activities, which are listed at the troop Web site, www.Troop1396.org.