Parsippany Scout Earns Eagle Award With Bench Building Service Project

Cameron Andrew Boone was honored at an Eagle Scout Court of Honor for achieving the rank of Eagle Scout, the Boy Scouts’ highest honor, on Sunday, June 8, from Parsippany Troop 173. 

The Eagle Scout Award is Scouting’s highest rank and among its most familiar icons. Men who have earned it count it among their most treasured possessions. Those who missed it by a whisker remember exactly which requirement they didn’t complete. Americans from all walks of life know that being an Eagle Scout is a great honor. The award is more than a badge. It’s a state of being. The Eagle Scout may have received the badge as a boy, but you earn it every day as a man. In the words of the Eagle Scout Promise, they do your best each day to make their training and example, their rank and their influence count strongly for better Scouting and for better citizenship in the troop, in their community, and in their contacts with other people. And to this they pledge their sacred honor.

Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than two million young men. Only 4% of the Boy Scouts actually earn this rank.

Requirements include earning at least 21 merit badges and demonstrating Scout Spirit through the Boy Scout Oath and Law, service, and leadership. This includes an extensive service project that the Scout plans, organizes, leads, and manages. Eagle Scouts are presented with a medal and a badge that visibly recognizes the accomplishments of the Scout.

Cameron became a Tiger Cub with Cub Scout Pack 177 at Northvail School at six years old. There he began to learned basic leadership skills, camping, first aid, and how to survive in the woods. After earning The Arrow of Light in 2007 he went on to join Boy Scout Troop 173. As a member of Troop 173 he served as a patrol leader, troop guide, and bugler. He has earned 27 merit badges and has had the opportunity to go on many trips and do community service projects. He went to troop camp many summers and attended Trail to Eagle to help him on his way to becoming an Eagle Scout. Cameron has worked at Camp Wheeler as a Den Leader and was awarded Den Leader of the Week the very first week of camp. The highlight of his scouting career however was his trip this past summer to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico where he completed and 80 mile back county back pack trek.

For his Eagle Scout Service Project Cameron built five benches, for the Morris County Parks Commission, that were placed along a new hiking loop at Old Troy Park in Parsippany. He and his crew of workers logged 189 service hours and had to do some fancy maneuvers to place the benches due to the damage caused by Super Storm Sandy.

Cameron is a senior at Parsippany High School where he has been involved in many school activities. He is a member of the National Honor Society and the Italian Honor Society. He has been a member Ski Club, Concert Band, Asian American Club, Winter Musical Stage Crew, Winter Strongman Lifting, and the Soccer team where he served as the JV captain in his sophomore year. Cameron also volunteers for Cerebral Palsy League in their program for multiply disabled and medically fragile children at Christmas time as one of Santa’s Elves.

Cameron has accepted an appointment to the Virginia Military Institute for next fall where he will major in biology and hopes to become a physical therapist for the U.S. Army.

Parsippany-Troy Hills Mayor presented Cameron with a Proclamation.

Photos by Frank Cahill