Wilton resident Matthew Johnson earned the rank of Eagle Scout and was celebrated for his accomplishment in an Eagle Court of Honor on March 10. Eagle Scout is the highest rank a Boy Scout can attain.
The ceremony was held at Comstock Community Center, which graciously offered the space when the original venue had no heat or power after the snowstorm. Masters of ceremony for the occasion were Eagle Scout Kace Stewart and Life Scout Adam Harley, both close friends of the new Eagle. During the Court of Honor, Johnson gave a speech reflecting on his time in scouting for the past 10 years. He started scouting in first grade as a Tiger Cub in Wilton’s Pack 22 before joining Troop 20 at the beginning of sixth grade. Johnson’s father, Dave, also spoke about his son’s trail to Eagle, from early campouts to his growth into a young man tackling challenging troop leadership responsibilities and managing his Eagle Service Project.
As part of earning the rank of Eagle, a Boy Scout must lead a service project representing the culmination of years of acquired scouting skills from project inception, planning and design, fundraising to source the project materials, logistical planning, and management of the volunteer corps on the job site. Service projects are designed to benefit the local community while challenging the scout to demonstrate a full range of leadership qualities. For his project, Johnson chose to build two picnic tables for Woodcock Nature Center, which will be used extensively for summer camps and school programs supporting the Nature Center’s mission to educate about the Wilton and Fairfield County environment. In addition to the physical work required to complete his project, he had to write an extensive project summary as part of his Eagle scout application, which was then reviewed by the National Boy Scouts of America.
Johnson completed his project and application before he began his junior year at Wilton High School in September 2017. The final step was to appear before an Eagle Board of Review, which determined the quality of his scouting experience and decided whether he had fulfilled the requirements for the rank of Eagle. In October 2017, Matthew passed his Eagle Board of Review, signaling his honorable achievement and high level of accomplishment.
During the ceremony, Wilton’s State Senator Toni Boucher presented Matthew with a citation from the State of Connecticut congratulating him for his dedication, hard work, and commitment required to reach the rank of Eagle. Matthew also received congratulatory certificates from Congressman Jim Himes and Senator Richard Blumenthal.