Local Scout Earns Eagle Scout Rank

The Boy Scouts of America Troop 3 Newport is celebrating the achievement of Hunter Dustin Veeck, who attained the rank of Eagle Scout recently.

The family luncheon and scout candle ceremony at the Elks Lodge was attended by friends & family and dignitaries including RI Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed, Mayor Harry Winthrop and Mark Chesterton who represented Bike Newport, the beneficiary of Hunter’s Leadership Project.  

For his Eagle project, he managed scouts and other volunteers to assemble bike storage racks for use by 2,100 attendees at Fort Adams during the Folk and Jazz Festivals this past summer. 

Speaking on Hunter’s behalf was his grandfather, John Hand who spoke of his travels with Hunter to the Grand Canyon and Australia. Master of Ceremonies was Glenn Gardiner, Troop 3 Newport’s scoutmaster who told the crowd about Hunter’s “thorns and roses” during his six years in Troop 3 Newport including his induction into the Order of the Arrow in 2009.  The Benediction & Invocation were given by Dr. William J. Maxwell, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church and John Hand was honored at the ceremony by the Eagle as his mentor.

Hunter graduated from Rogers High School in June, 2013.  He spent four yrs in JROTC and achieved the rank of 1st Lt. and was also elected to the RI Honor Society.  He was in the NACTAC Residential Carpentry program for three years achieving OSHA certification.  He was on the Rogers baseball team for three years.  Hunter is pursuing his dream in the Construction Management program at SUNY Delhi, NY.    

Hunter’s work resume includes two summers at Gooseberry Beach as a sales associate and two summers in the Preservation Society’s famous Chinese Tea House and Elms Carriage House.

Hunter served as a youth deacon at Newport’s First Presbyterian Church where he also organized and delivered food pantry collections and served 50 meals on a monthly basis.  He also served on a week long mission trip to the Boston Project with his church.

Hunter is the son of Kerry Veeck of Newport and grandson of Alice & John Hand of Portsmouth and Don & Judi Veeck of Hampton Bays, Long Island,New York. 

Boys in Troop 3 range in age from 11-17 years old.  They attend Cluny School, St. Philomena School, Thompson Middle School, Rogers & Middletown High Schools and some are home schooled.