Boy Scout Troop 770 bestowed Eagle Scout awards to eight of their members during a special ceremony including family and friends at the Life Center at St. Michael Catholic Church. Sunday, August 11, 2024.
Eight Boy Scouts were honored Sunday afternoon as they received their eagle ranks at the Fr. Severin Life Center at St. Michael Catholic Church and School.
The eight scouts, Cole Fuchs, Keaton McCarley, Seth Richey, Matthew Hentz, Elliot Buescher, Tyler Duetsch, Isaac Berty and Joseph Shininger, are part of Greenfield’s Troop 770 and have been scouting together for years, with some of them joining the Boy Scouts as early as age 11 or the Cub Scouts even earlier.
After progressing through previous ranks, each of the scouts had to head some sort of community service project in order to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout. The projects from this group of eagles ranged from planting trees at Eastern Hancock High School to installing playground equipment at St. Michael to planning a 5k.
Following a series of speeches from members of the troop, both current scouts and adult leaders, Hentz gave a speech to the crowd describing his experiences with the troop.
“Our unorthodox scouting experience is really what made us us,” Hentz said. He held nothing back when describing his scouting journey, from being open about the fact that this group “endured our own fair share of hazing” to mentioning being recruited by a “white guy dressed up as a Native American to convince me to join scouts,” but Hentz still emphasized that the Boy Scouts turned him into the best version of himself.
“One of the council organizations teaches you about friendship, leadership and service, how all of them are necessary to exist with each other,” he said. “Learning how you need help sometimes, you need to work with other people to overcome your issues, that’s why I’m grateful to have the group I did. We were all able to do it together.”
Richey, who helped write Hentz’s speech, echoed Hentz’s sentiments about being glad for the group he had around him, saying that the scouts were important for helping him navigate his adolescence. He specifically mentioned how the scouts helped him refine his time management skills to make it through the end of high school while completing his eagle project, getting into college, and competing with the Eastern Hancock High School tennis team.
Following Hentz’s speech, the families of the eight eagle candidates were invited forward as the scouts received their ranks, which were pinned on by their family members. As each cycled through, troop scoutmaster Bob Grossman spoke to them before handing the badge to the scouts’ parents. Grossman says that this group in particular has grown a lot within their time with the scouts. “When they first came in, they were extremely quiet,” Grossman said. “One or two word answers, trying to stay away from adults, not because they were doing mischievous things but just because they were 11 years old. We’ve seen him grow into very respectful, responsible and even funny young men.”
Richey said his scouting experience shaped who he is now, heavily influencing his choice in majors. Now a biology student at Trine University, he says his love of nature came from his time with the scouts.
“Scouting has absolutely helped me,” Richey said. “What I want to do with my life, what I want to do, where I want to go from here, scouting is how I grew my life.”
