KNOX COUNTY — Three Knox County Scouts provided many hours of service, in a variety of ways, in order to attain the highest rank of Eagle Scout.

The members of Camden Troop 200 were among 36 Scouts in the Kennebec Valley District (Kennebec, Lincoln, Knox, Franklin and Somerset), helping to accumulate more than 6000 hours of community service around the state

John Owen Edward Weber, of Union, accumulated 52 hours while building composting bins for the middle school to use as a way to help reduce waste and provide compost for the school

Samuel Dallas Hebert, of of Rockport and Thomaston, contributed 150 hours of service while providing significant improvements at the Marge Jones Recreational Facility in Rockport, including the fundraising for and installation of a new entrance sign, electronic scoreboard and dugout improvements

and Jon Heath, of Camden, contributed 112 hours of service while constructing signs for a new multi-use trail at the high school, including a large trail entrance sign and trail marker signs

In 2018, there were 141 Eagles from the State of Maine and 52,160 young men across the nation earned Scouting’s lofty award, according to a news release. If all of those Class of 2018 Eagle Scouts wanted to gather to watch the Red Sox at Fenway Park, they would fill up all of the 37,731 seats and spill out onto Yankey Way.

“This is absolutely amazing,” said Kennebec Valley District Chairman Bruce Rueger, of Wateville, in the release. “When you think of all the good that our Scouts are doing in the community from building handicap ramps to restoring forgotten veterans grave markers to making life easier for seniors and the needy and building trails and so much more – I am truly impressed. It really is heartening in this day and age to see a program where young people are taught that they have a responsibility to help other people at all times. I am so proud of our Scouts.”

The fact that a boy is an Eagle Scout has always carried with it a special significance, the release said. The award is a performance-based achievement whose standards have been well-maintained over the years. Not every boy who joins Scouts, BSA earns the Eagle Scout rank. This represents more than 2.25 million Boy Scouts who have earned the rank since 1912.

While a Life Scout, a Scout plans, develops, and gives leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, school, or the community.  In addition to providing service and fulfilling the part of the Scout Oath, “to help other people at all times,” one of the primary purposes of the Eagle Scout service project is to demonstrate or hone, or to learn and develop, leadership skills.

Related to this are important lessons in project management and taking responsibility for a significant accomplishment.

Kennebec County:

Mathew Dow, Jr of Albion -Albion Troop 446 – 26 Hours of Service restoring the Albion Historical Society train for educational purposes

Alexander Steward  of Augusta- China Troop 479- 202 hours of service building an outdoor classroom at Lincoln Elementary School in Augusta

Matthew Allarie of Sidney- Sidney Troop 401- 45 hours of service building a trophy case for the high school music department

Nicholas Shelton of Winslow- China Troop 479- 98 hours of service at Waterville Creates building pottery studio shelves

Jaxon Roan of Oakland- Waterville Troop 417- 358 hours of service building and installing cat climbing and exercise structures at PALS no kill animal shelter.

Maverick Lowery of Vassalboro- Vassalboro Troop 410- 208 hours of service building and improving trails at the Annie Sturgis Sanctuary including installing bridges where needed

Logan Cummins of Monmouth- Winthrop/Monmouth Troop 604- 971 hours of service at Camp Mechuwana in Winthrop installing a new sign including brick foundation and solar lights.

Liam Patrick Rodrigue of Litchfield- Litchfield Troop 698- 140 hours of service building a US Flag retirement firepit area for the American Legion Post 181 in Litchfield

Michael Littlefield of China- China Troop 479- 50 hours of service building shelves for the China Food Bank

Isaac Dearborn of West Gardiner- West Gardiner Troop 613- 137 hours of service constructing an information kioskat the new West Gardiner boat launch.

Jack DiGirolamo of Belgrade- Troop 401 Sidney- 93 hours of service building mountain bike bridges for Quarry Road Trails in Waterville

Lucas Eric Lenfest of Smithfield- Troop 453 in Belgrade- 176 hours of service constructing a Veterans Memorial in front of the Smithfield Town office including walkway and granite bench.

Noak Keene of Gardiner- Troop 672 in Gardiner- 101 hours of service upgrading and adding on to the snack shack at the high school soccer field.

Tieran Croft of Sidney- Waterville Troop 417- 162 hours of service building eight benches for the town of Oakland.

Nivek Boostedt of China- China Troop 479- 132 hours of service building an outdoor classroom for the China School Forest.

Travis Nadeau of Litchfield- Litchfield Troop 698- 115 hours of service building a shed to serve as shelter for donated bottles to local charities.

Adam DeWitt of Sidney- Troop 401 in Sidney- 270 hours of service putting on and promoting a benefit concert to raise awareness for Travis Mills Foundation.

Joshua Robert Hoffman of Augusta- Troop 603 in Augusta- 132 hours of service building a small playground at St Michael Roman Catholic School

Dawson Poulin of Sidney- Troop 401 in Sidney- 568 hours of service building helmet and baseball bat racks for the Sidney Athletic Association and then rebuilding them after vandals destroyed them a day after they were installed

Kai McGlauflin of Sidney- Sidney Troop 401- 114 hours of service building an awards cabinet and work bench for the Messalonskee High School and Middle School Robotics Teams

Tucker Leonard of Palermo- Troop 479 in China- 112 hours of service constructing an outdoor classroom at the Palermo Consolidated School.

Eric McDonnell of Augusta- Troop 603 Augusta- 177 hours of service built three benches and picnic table for the Kennebec River Rail Trail for Augusta age Friendly.

Travis John Nickerson of Augusta- Troop 606 in Farmingdale- 81 hours of service gathering items and raising awareness in the community to help those who need  help through the Bridging the Gap Center for Resources, Essentials Pantry & Clothing Bank in Augusta. In total, 1218 items were collected for those in need of essential items.

Somerset County:

Nathan Bloom of Skowhegan- Skowhegan Troop 431- 97 hours of service collecting photos and uploading them to help make it easier for those looking for loved ones or working on genealogy.

Lucas Eric Lenfest of Smithfield- Troop 453 in Belgrade- 176 hours of service constructing a Veterans Memorial in front of the Smithfield Town office including walkway and granite bench. (Note, Lucas is listed in both Somerset and Kennebec as he is a member of a Troop in one county while living in the other)

Austin Wright of Madison- Troop 481 serving Madison/Anson/ Starks- 78 hours of service to demolish and old ramp and build a sturdy handicap accessible ramp at the fire station

Jackson Dudley of Fairfield- Skowhegan Troop 431- 80 hours building three new picnic tables at Mill Island Park from materials he solicited In the community.

Peter P Logiodice V of Pittsfield- Troop 428 in Pittsfield- 267 hours of service building wheel chair ramp for a church in Pittsfield.

Parker Jeffrey Desjardins of Jackman- Troop 497 in Jackman- 153 hours of service building new trophy case and banner for the Forest Hills School

Hunter Edwin William Cuddy of Jackman- Troop 497 in Jackman- 161 hours of service making major improvements to the Forest Hills School nature trail including adding benches, plant and tree identification signs and viewing areas.

Franklin County:

Benjamin Butterfield of Phillips- Strong Troop 500- 130 hours of service cleaning and restoring 66 historic gravestones including those belonging to veterans and logged them into findagrave.com

John Knapp of Farmington- Troop 546 in Farmington- 142 hours improving Titcomb Mountain trail signs

Hunter Hutchins of Wilton- Troop 518 in Wilton- 176 hours of service building a set of steps and deck and painting three car garage at Kineowatha Park in Wilton

Brian Hayes of Farmington- Troop 594 Farmington- 118 hours of service