Boy Scouts of America, Troop 79 has four new Eagle Scouts. Nicolas Eatman, Taylour Butler, Preston Earle and Joseph Noffsinger all recently earned the rank of Eagle Scout in Troop 79. All four began their scouting adventure together as Cub Scouts while attending Robert J. Burch Elementary, in Pack 179 which is hosted by Tyrone Christian Church. While Cub Scouts, they did the traditional Scouting activities, but they also spent a significant amount of time volunteering in their Fayette County community.
They participated in Tyrone clean-up days and food drives to collect donations for The Real Life Center, a local area food bank.
Additionally, as Cub Scouts they worked with other Scouts and parents to prepare the atrium and playground areas at Robert J. Burch, in preparation for teachers and students to return to school from summer break. In February, 2008, as Cub Scouts, they each earned the Arrow of Light Award and joined Boy Scout Troop 79, hosted by Hopewell United Methodist Church in Tyrone.
While Boy Scouts they remained in Tyrone, attended Flat Rock Middle School and Sandy Creek High School, and continued their commitment to leadership and service in their community.
Nicolas Eatman earned the rank Eagle Scout in August, 2013. Nick’s Eagle Scout project was the restoration of a Sandy Creek High School atrium.
The atrium area spanned 300’ X 28”. The project involved the removal of overgrown and dead trees and shrubs, creating a new pebble stone walkway, replanting flower beds and installing new plants throughout the atrium.
The project also included the placing of new weed barrier and new mulch over much of the atrium.
He raised enough funds to purchase two new picnic tables and dedicated them to the school in honor of his deceased grandmother and great-grandfather.
Over 50 individuals from Fayette County donated 400 plus volunteer hours to complete Nick’s Eagle Scout project for Sandy Creek High School. The total project expenses were $3,106, including a significant donation of mulch and pebble stones from Walker Landscaping in Tyrone. The project sponsors were Maureen Callahan and. Permeil Dass, with the support of Dr. Darrell Evans, the principal of Sandy Creek.
Taylour Butler earned the rank of Eagle Scout in April, 2014. He built an outdoor classroom and garden for the atrium at the Fayette County Open Campus. The project was sponsored by teacher Margo Wimbish, Tim Carder, principal of the Fayette County Alternative Education Program, and mentor and longtime family friend, Lacy Curry.
The project consisted of transporting four garden beds from the previous school’s location, reconstructing the beds into the ground and filling them with dirt, cutting down and removing six trees, weeding and apply weed barrier to the area where the trees were removed, and constructing and assembling three rows of benches and a platform.
The area was also filled with mulch and two composters, creating an outdoor classroom. 40 volunteers helped with Taylour’s project donating approximately 220 hours of community service. The total project expenses were $1,277.
Preston Earle earned the rank of Eagle Scout in August.
Due to Preston’s love of fine arts and music, he felt that he could give back to his community through his Eagle Project by serving the fine arts department at Flat Rock Middle School.
Preston built two portable instrument storage units for violins and violas.
This project saved the department over $1,000 and is still in use. The project was of high quality and much appreciated by the school. Preston’s project was sponsored by Kelly Gallman, the orchestra director at Flat Rock.
The project included financial assistance from Home Depot, friends, and family and was completed after over 250 hours of involvement from members of BSA Troop 79, Preston’s neighbors and family.
Joseph Noffsinger became an Eagle Scout in September, 2014. His project was a renovation of the courtyard at Flat Rock Middle School.
Joseph’s project also involved the removal of a significant number of full-grown trees and shrubs.
Additionally, during the project his volunteers constructed a 100 foot pathway, including the use of pressure treated lumber to define the path. Once defined, the path was fitted with weed barrier and covered with mulch. Joseph also built two benches, which allow the space to be utilized as a reading area for students and Flat Rock faculty.
Lisa Mason, a teacher at Flat Rock was Joseph’s sponsor with support from Mr. Mann, the principal of Flat Rock. Joseph’s project had a total cost of $740, including a significant contribution of mulch from Walker Landscaping in Tyrone. The project required 246 volunteer hours.
All the Eagle Scouts are college bound seniors at Sandy Creek High School and continue to be committed to service in their Fayette County community.
