Eagles Nest on Deborah Dr.

A Bald Eagle’s large nest is called an aerie, but this is not a story about finding an aerie in this Southwestern suburb of Chicago. This is an incredible story about a sixteen-year-old junior at Lemont High School. On August 19th, something extraordinary happened. Nicholas Smyth became the seventh scout living on Deborah Drive, a short, unassuming street consisting of 14 houses, to earn the highest rank awarded by Scouts BSA, formerly the Boy Scouts of America. In fact, he is the seventh scout living within 4 adjacent houses on this street in Lemont. There are also at least 3 other young men with in 2 blocks of Deborah Drive who have earned this prestigious award.

Only 8% of all Scouts BSA scouts earn and are awarded the rank of Eagle, the highest rank offered by Scouts BSA. The average age of Scouts upon earning the rank of Eagle was 17.3 in 2019. It takes an average of 6-7 years of hard work, service, leadership, perseverance, and determination to become an Eagle Scout

Lemont has a long and strong scouting community. Currently, there are 2 Cub Scout packs where boys and girls can enter scouts as a kindergartener at 5 years old. Scouts can then cross over into one of 2 boy troops and 1 girl troop at 10 years old.

So how did this happen? Nick’s older brother was born during the winter. It had snowed a few days after bringing Matthew home. Before Nick’s mother was able to get outside to shovel, the snow had already been cleared. She found out that the two boys who lived next door, Bill and Steve Grand had already cleared the driveway and walkways. She found out that the two boys were not only taught well by their parents, but they were Scouts. One of the principles of the Scout Oath is to “Help other people at all times” and, they were helping out a neighbor.

Over the years, Nick’s parents heard all about the fun things the boys did in Scouts and when it came time, signed Matthew up and then three years later, signed Nicholas up for Cub Scouts. Within that time frame, the 2 boys who lived in the house to the East and the one boy who lived in the house across the street joined Scouts.

Bill Grand was the first of the 7 young men to earn his Eagle. It was in 2007 and he was just shy of his 18th birthday, when a scout “ages out” of Scouts BSA. Bill’s project made the streets around schools and parks in Lemont a little safer. He placed reflective strips to stop signs where there is high pedestrian traffic to make the stop signs more visible to motorists.

Steve Grand, Bill’s brother was also shy of his 18th birthday in 2008 when he earned Eagle. He organized a food drive thru many of the churches in Lemont that benefitted the local area food pantries. He fed many families that would have otherwise gone hungry.

Kevin Leahy was next, in 2013 at the age of 15. His project helped the local church where his troop held their meetings. He added shelving, cabinetry and trim to a spare room in the church basement to make it into a conference room. That room is utilized by all groups that hold their meetings at the church.

Bryan Leahy was 17 years old in 2013 when he earned his eagle, only 6 days after his brother. Brian held a dog food and kitty litter drive that benefitted one of the local humane shelters after a flood destroyed all of their supplies.

Liam Athy was 16 years old in 2016 when he restored a wetland area on park district property. It is personally satisfying that it still visible today. His project added beauty to an otherwise unsightly area.

Matthew Smyth was 16 years old when in 2018 he earned the honor of calling himself an Eagle Scout. He, along with 30 other people, restored the garden, fix the railing, planted 2 signs and rebuilt the retaining wall surrounding the Old Stone Church, a 157-year-old building holding the Lemont Historical Society Museum.

Nicolas, now 16, with the assistance of 30 volunteers power washed, scraped, primed, and re-painted the VFW in downtown Lemont. He really wanted to help the veterans who needed their building repainted to make it look better and to prevent the erosion of the cinderblock structure.

To become an Eagle Scout, a scout must successfully complete requirements that focus on Character and Leadership; Citizenship, First Aid, Camping, Cooking, Navigation and Nature for each of the 6 ranks that precede the Eagle rank.

Scouts learn and live by the Scout Oath and a set of principles called the Scout Law. Another hallmark of scouting is providing community service. There are at least 18 community service hours, including 6 conservation service hours required to complete the requirements leading up to Eagle Scout. Nick clocked more than 90 service hours for himself and reported over 225 service hours by his volunteers to complete his Eagle Project alone. Nicholas has personally logged over 300 service hours since he crossed over from Cub Scouts into Scouts BSA six years ago.

A scout must dedicate a great deal of time and put forth a large amount of effort towards earning the highest rank in Scouting. At his/her own pace, a scout will need to learn and show proficiency in scout craft skills such as knot tying and pocketknife safety as he progresses through the 6 ranks that precede Eagle. A scout also learns skills related to camping, hiking, orienteering and outdoor ethics; cooking, tools, first aid, and other topics such as physical fitness, citizenship and leadership. An Eagle Scout candidate is required to earn at least 21 merit badges, 13 of those are specific to the Eagle Scout. The purpose of merit badges is to give the scout an opportunity to explore different subjects that may inspire a future career. There are more than 135 Merit Badges where scouts can learn about sports, crafts, science, trades, and business from qualified merit badge counselors. Liam is now a chef and credits the cooking merit badge as the reason for his career choice. Brian became a gold medalists in the Special Olympics for golf. His interest in golf was sparked by earning the golf merit badge.

Leadership skills are learned over each of the 6 ranks required to reach the rank of Eagle. A scout is also required to hold a position of leadership within the troop and remain active within the troop. To further sharpen his leadership skills, the scout must plan, develop and provide leadership to volunteers during their Eagle scout project.

Not all of scouting is merit badge and paperwork. The activities most enjoyed by the young men were the camp outs, summer camps, high adventures and activities such as climbing, canoeing, kayaking, and shooting sports. Scouts have the opportunity to attend any of four "high adventure" bases and several local scout camp high adventures. These adventures are longer and more intense experiences in rugged and remote locations. These young men chose Philmont as their favorite "high adventure". This year, Nicholas and 15 other scouts and adult leaders from Troop 149 hiked over 134 miles over 12 days in the mountains of New Mexico. They overwhelmingly stated that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity that was physically and mentally demanding, but very rewarding.

Who inspired these young men to persevere and earn the rank of Eagle? The inspiration and encouragement came from within their troop. The troop structure is set up where the older and more experienced scouts teach the younger members who are 10-11 years old when joining the troop. The younger scouts look up to the older scouts and watch as they go through the process and achieve their goal. Steve mentions that his brother Bill inspired him and the friendly brotherly competition to achieve badges together spurred him on.

There are many well known Eagle scouts that these young men also looked up to and inspired them. Steve, an accomplished recording artist, mentions he looks up to fellow entertainers that are Eagle Scouts, such as Steven Speilberg, Michael Moore and Zack Galifianakis. Bill, Liam and Brian add Jim Lovell, Bear Grills and Mike Rowe to the list.

These young men are all proud to have stuck with their convictions to become an Eagle Scout. It has taught them that it will take a lot of hard work, dedication and perseverance to become the best at what they do. Any All American Boy surely can attain the rank of Eagle if he has the right stuff.