City honors Eagle Scouts

Two Eagle Scouts from Alachua’s Boy Scout Troop 88 were honored for their accomplishments by the City of Alachua commissioners and Mayor Monday evening.

Mayor Gib Coerper presented plaques with certificates of achievement to Joshua Hull and Matthew Tankersley in front of a packed audience at the commission meeting.  Among those in attendance were dozens of fellow scouts from Troop 88 who made the trek from the Scout Hut across from City Hall to watch one of their own be recognized by the City.

The two Eagle Scouts accepted the certificates and spoke briefly about their experiences in scouting and their involvement in Alachua’s Troop 88.

Tankersley and Hull were each required to earn at least 21 merit badges and complete a host of prerequisites, all of which must be accomplished before their 18^th birthday. Among those perquisites is ascending from the lower ranks of Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star and Life before becoming a candidate for Eagle. 

The candidate must also complete a sizable community service project, which includes soliciting funding, determining the scope and scale of the project, planning workdays to accomplish the goals of the project, delegating roles to fellow scouts and documenting the project for review.

Hull and Tankersley join the elite and small group of the less than five percent of scouts who have achieved the rank of Eagle.

The two scouts were also each given a $100 U.S. Savings Bond from the Alachua Lions Club, presented by President Christine Hirsch.  The Alachua Lions Club has chartered Alachua’s Boy Scout troop 88 for some 75 years according to Troop 88 Scoutmaster Fred Hilton.

Hilton said his troop of more than 40 scouts could have as many as a dozen reach the rank of Eagle in 2010.

Troop 88 meets at 7 p.m. each Monday at their Scout Hut on NW 142^nd Terrace, across from the post office in Alachua.