Eagle Scout

William passed his Eagle board of Review on Saturday afternoon. They kind of surprised him because they said they would schedule it for sometime in September. Then Saturday morning they called and said they were going to be able to get enough people together that afternoon.

Alrighty then.


So he went and passed, but we hadn't gotten his picture done yet so we couldn't mail it all back in.

Quick, Aunt Gretchen to the rescue!!! William hightailed it to her town, (100 miles round trip) and was home Saturday night before Lucy and Rachel made it home from the tailgate party that the school held downtown to kick off football season.

We got the pics back this morning. (Thanks Sis. Moffitt!) and the application goes in the mail today.


Now we just have to have his Court of Honor (and I am not even in charge of that! High Five Scout Committee and delegation!!!!) and then we are done.

Hey, who is that sneaking around the corner about to start an Eagle Project?!?!?!?!?!





HARRISON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And yet another reason that I am grateful that I am a mom, just in time for Mother's Day!

This is taken from the Southern Standard Sunday, May 11 edition (FRONT PAGE!)I didn't include the big picture of William that she also put on the front page because I figure you are probably getting sick of looking at pictures of this Eagle Scout Project. But just in case you aren't, here is the link to the Eagle Blog:


Hale reclaims historic spring-He works to make permanent path as Eagle Scout project

By Lisa Hobbs

Eagle Scout candidate William Hale is setting his sights to uncover the historic
spring located behind Warren County Middle School.

“We couldn’t find our
way in and we had no idea where the spring was because it was so overgrown,”
said Hale.

After slowly making their way through the woods, his group
discovered a small stream. While moving slowly upstream, they found the spring’s
beginning marked with large stones and a rock wall.

All projects chosen
as Eagle Scout projects must be ones that give back to the community and help
candidates develop leadership skills. As a general rule, no project is redone.
Because of this, his chosen project almost wasn’t allowed.

Hale is the
second Boy Scout to attempt to reclaim the spring for the benefit of education
as an Eagle Scout project. In 2004, Trey Webster took on the job of beating back
the overgrowth and making a trail to the spring.

Despite hard work done
at the time, nature has a way of reclaiming the land without continued human
interference. Four years later, the spring was once again surrounded by
overgrowth and the path was no longer visible from the school.

After
asking for permission to take on this project, he had to reassure the review
board that the project would be permanent. Where his predecessor used mulch and
landscaping timbers to make a path to the spring, his idea was to use
landscaping cloth, gravel and treated cross-ties.
As an added touch, an
archway will be added to mark the location of the path. Made from cedar, the
archway will hold a sign that reads “Towles Family Spring.”

The
significance of the area was recounted by history enthusiast Jimmy Haley during
the first project in 2004:

The spring was the property of the Towles
family, circa 1840, and had at one time been overtaken by Union soldiers along
with other houses located on Rebel Hill during the Civil War.
At that time,
this area was made up of large homes with 30 or 40 acres each. While the Yankee
soldiers camped, they used the spring and had slaves from some of the area homes
cook.
Many years ago, when the middle school was the high school, teachers
would take classes on trips down to the spring. As time passed, the trips
stopped and the spring was hidden in overgrowth.
As a result, not many
recent students knew of the spring’s existence.

“I went through middle
school and never knew about it,” said Hale who is now a sophomore. “I never knew
it was here.”

When the project is complete, teachers will be encouraged
by WCMS principal Betty Wood to use the spring in history and science classes.

“Mrs. Wood wants to incorporate the spring into some of the history and
science classes, so those students can come down,” said WCMS guidance counselor
Nancy Hale. As grandmother to the Boy Scout, she was on hand for the placement
of the graveled path May 3 by Hale and numerous volunteers.

Once access
to the spring has been made with gravel, efforts will begin to clear around the
spring without disturbing the rock wall.

Finite

Update: I have added more pictures on the Eagle Project Blog. Head over and check it out.

Hallelujah

William finished his Eagle Project yesterday .

And wrote the report today.

I have posted LOTS of picture on his Eagle Project Blog.

Please go and visit it and leave him a note. I will post the finished project pictures tomorrow. I am too tired tonight.

P.S. Thanks so much to everyone that helped!!!!

Eagle Blog

I have started a Blog dedicated to William's Eagle project. I have a lot more to add. I will have to backdate a lot of it. I have gotten 1 post up though, so go and check it out:

http://towlesfamilyspring.blogspot.com/

Road to Eagle

Come on into the woods with me.

Right here, there looks like there might be an old path. Where will it lead? Where are we?The woods here look pretty nice. We are in Tennessee. This area is called Rebel Hill. Yup, it has to do with the Civil War.Eek. It is getting a little dark in these woods. We aren't going to run into any Rebs in here, are we? (While the majority of my family may align themselves with the South I am, and always will be, a YANKEE through and through!)There seems to be something down here. Does anyone know what it is?Look, Harrison is down here.Now he is joined by Molly, Lucy, William, and Ella.Do you know what this is?



Can you see it? At the bottom of the picture? We have had a drought this year, so it is a little harder to see than it normally would be. If you were a hot, hungry, tired and scared Rebel soldier, this would have looked pretty good to you. It is a spring. The Rebel Army stopped here and rested on their way to Murfreesboro, I believe. I am going to have to have William give me all the low down and history. This is his Eagle project!

He is building steps and erecting a sign to the Rebel Hill Spring. It sits in some woods behind the middle school here in our little county. When he is done he is going to put on a re-enactment for the 7th graders at the middle school. Which means he gets to do it for his brother. Should be interesting. We will have a lot more posts and pictures as the project progresses. We are very proud of William and all of the work he is putting into this. He would probably like me to mention that when he completes his project we are going to let him get his drivers license! Do you think he will finish by February 19? He has only been ready to do a project for about 3 years now! Nothing like procrastinating until the last minute!