Boy Scouts Archives - Lacamas Magazine

Boy Scout Nolan Friend Recieves Camas Mayor Volunteer Spirit Award

Camas, WA — During their regular City Council session Monday night, Camas Mayor Scott Higgins recognized Boy Scout, Nolan Friend, for his Eagle Scout project work along Lacamas Lake.

Each month, the mayor recognizes local citizens with the Volunteer Spirit Award for work they’ve done to make life a little better.

Friend approached the city in February 2016 looking for ideas for his Eagle Scout project. The project is typically the final major task on the road to receiving an Eagle Scout award. The Eagle Scout project requires extensive planning, development, organization, and fundraising.

For his project, Friend rebuilt the Heritage Trail overlook, on the south side of Lacamas Lake. It was in dire need of repair, so he took it on. Friend designed the new overlook, had his project approved by his leadership, the city, and a local scout district official. Once approved, Friend procured the needed supplies, set a date, and had the help of volunteers to make it happen.

The work was completed during Spring Break, and according to Higgins, “we’ve received many responses from many grateful citizens.”

During the City Council session, Higgins expressed his gratitude to the Boy Scout organization, as a whole, calling out their continued volunteer work.

”Additionally, we have Boy Scouts that approach us from time to time with Eagle Scout project ideas,” said Higgins. “They do great work. This project really stood out, and I have to say this project exceeded staff’s expection by far. I think it has exceeded the community’s expectation by far. We have a tendency to get a lot of public feedback on stuff, and we’ve not gotten as much feedback as we received on this project. This award goes to Nolan Friend for his extensive efforts to rebuild the Heritage Trail Overlook at Lacamas Lake.”

After receiving the award, Friend approached the podium and thanked the council.

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To learn more, visit bsa.org or cityofcamas.us

: The old deck.

: The new deck.

: Mayor’s Volunteer Spirit Award.

: Nolan Friend and Camas Mayor Scott Higgins.

April 17, 2018/1 Comment/by Ernest Geigenmiller

Featured, News

Huckvale Earns Prestigious Eagle Scout Award

Camas Senior, Luke Huckvale, was honored Thursday night with the presentation of his hard-earned Eagle Scout Award, which is the highest honor a youth can earn in the Boy Scouts of America.

Huckvale, 18, of Camas Boy Scout Troop 694, entered the program seven years ago, and had to earn six rank advancements to achieve the Eagle honor. The ranks are Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, Life, and Eagle. Within each rank, the requirements become more challenging, and require numerous tasks, merit badges, service hours, and leadership roles.

To achieve the Eagle rank, a youth must complete a challenging, and often rigorous service project that benefits the local community.

“It’s designed to demonstrate leadership, and challenge the young man,” said Ron Shake, a local District advancement chairman. “It’s designed to be hard.”

For his project, Huckvale gathered volunteers to clean up and repair several damaged and vandalized tombstones at the Fisher Cemetery in Vancouver. The group also repaired a fence which was damaged by fallen trees, and built a wooden bench, which was placed at the war memorial at the site.

Each Eagle Scout also has the opportunity to select a mentor, a person who guided the scout along the journey. Huckvale chose Scott Murphy as his mentor, and honored him Thursday evening.

“I chose Scott because he was there to not only help me with my scouting needs, but also other needs I had like emotional physical and educational needs,” said Huckvale.

Huckvale also expressed what he loved most about scouting.

“I like the brotherhood and loyalty that it brought between my friends and I,” he said. “And I loved Camp Meriwether the most because it was just a very good environment for doing everything scouting and there was a beach so that made it ten times better.

“Regarding tonight, I’m glad that all of my work finally came to fruition, and it was especially good to see how many people cared enough about me to come to my court of honor and support me.”

Nationwide, only about 5 percent of scouts earn the rank of Eagle. Since the organization’s inception, a total of 2 million boys have earned Eagle.

To learn more about Boy Scouts, visit www.cpcbsa.org

Eagle Scout, Luke Huckvale, speaks at his Eagle Scout Court of Honor.

Luke Huckvale hugs his mother, Shannon Huckvale, while his father, Derrick, looks on.

A look at Luke’s scouting history.

June 9, 2016/0 Comments/by Ernest Geigenmiller

Sports

Scouting Video: Adventures at Camp Baldwin

This is a video report on the Scouting adventures of two local Camas scout troops (496 and 499), and one from Medford, at Camp Baldwin, at Durfur, OR, which is near Mt. Hood. The boys left on July 14 and spent six days camping. They earned dozens of merit badges, went on high adventure outings, and several did the mile swim and the early Thursday morning Polar Bear Swim.

“We had the most amazing time at Baldwin,” said Jefferson Jackson, a 13-year-old Star Scout. “The weather was perfect. It was really hot during the day, but we had lots of shade, and got to spend a lot of time playing in the lake, and doing water merit badges. At night, it only got down to the low 60s, so we slept really well. Plus, our troop is filled with great guys, and amazing leaders.”

His buddy, Zach Terry, agreed.

“We had the most fun at Camp Baldwin,” Terry said. “Even the food tasted good. We got to make our own meals, and we took shifts during the week to see who would cook. Cleaning wasn’t so much fun, but the whole feeling at Camp Baldwin is a good one. I’m glad we got to go. I hope we go back next year.”

Longtime friends Jefferson Jackson and Christian Geigenmiller at the waterfront.

The group was led by local orthodontist, Trevor Allen, who started volunteering as a Scoutmaster last year.

“It’s a great group of boys,” said Allen. “They really work as a team. There’s not friction or backbiting. They are really good friends.”

Camp Baldwin is one of 18 properties owned by the Cascade Pacific Council, of the Boy Scouts of America. Boys ages 11-18 participate in the program earning rank advancements and merit badges with the goal of attaining the highest youth rank of Eagle Scout. Boy Scouts serve local communities throughout America and the world.

Video: Scouting Adventures at Camp Baldwin