Four young men soar to the rank of Eagle Scout

by Peter Jakey– Managing Editor

Typically, just one or two scouts — if any — from a troop attain the Eagle Scout rank in a given year. This Saturday at the Belknap Township Hall four young men from Rogers City?s Troop 6 will achieve the rank of Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts of America’s highest honor. At least 180 people are expected to attend the Eagle Scout Court of Honor ceremony to recognize the achievements of Jared Fleming, Eric Kieliszewski, David LaBar and Charlie Wickersham.

Only two percent of all Boy Scouts attain the rank of Eagle Scout, a process which takes years of hard work and dedication to, among other things, earn at least 21 merit badges (12 of which are required), hold various leadership positions within the troop, and, perhaps the most daunting requirement, complete a service project that benefits a school, community organization or religious institution. Kieliszewski and Wickersham completed their projects December 2006, but waited for their fellow scouts.

“With David finishing in December 2007 and Jared finishing shortly after that, we elected to do one large Court of Honor,” said Scout Master Dana LaBar. “At this point it has worked out very well. We have all four families working together to make this celebration happen.”

FOR KIELISZEWSKI scouting comes naturally. His grandfather was Troop 6’s founder and first scout master, both his uncle Wayne Williamson and oldest brother Jordan are Eagle recipients. He started as a Wolf as a Cub Scout, then progressed through Bears and Webelos, earning every available Webelo patch as well as his religious emblem, “Duty to God.” He crossed over to Boy Scouts in 2000 after earning Cub Scout’s highest honor, the Arrow of Light. The positions he has held in the troop have been assistant patrol leader, scribe and quartermaster. His Eagle Scout project was setting up a gardening system for his church, which will be used for its third growing season shortly. Kieliszewski graduated fifth in his class from Rogers City High School with honors in 2007, and is attending Alpena Community College where he is pursuing a career in engineering. Following the current semester, he will be taking a two-year hiatus to serve as a non-paid missionary in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is the son of Jerry and Dawn Kieliszewski, and the late Laurie Kieliszewski.

CHARLIE WICKERSHAM joined the Cub Scouts as a Bear as a result of prompting by his good friend Stuart Hamp. He earned every available Webelo badge as well as his Arrow of Light. Although there were about a dozen boys in the Bear den, the number dwindled to three who crossed over into Troop 6 in May 2000. Charlie served as a patrol leader to several different patrols beginning in 2001 before being elected senior patrol leader in 2005 by his fellow scouts. He held this position until he turned 18.

Charlie also was nominated and entered into the Order of the Arrow. His Eagle project consisted of making repairs to the Vogler Conservation trail. He graduated from RCHS in 2007 and is currently attending ACC part time as well as working. He is the son of Kevin and Linda Wickersham.

FLEMING IS a 17-year-old senior at RCHS with his twin sister Jenny. He began his scouting experience as a Bobcat and worked his way through the ranks of Cub Scouts to earn his Arrow of Light before crossing over to Boy Scouts in 2001. He said being a Boy Scout also taught him that it is important to be involved in the community, such as when he participated in many extracurricular activities such as Key Club, Natural Helpers and the Big Brothers Big Sisters Mentoring program. He set up the Presque Isle Soccer Association in conjunction with the MSU Extension of Rogers City for his Eagle project, and was happy to see that 100 children signed up, twice as many than the targeted number for the first season. Following graduation, Fleming will be attending Lawrence Technological University and will be working toward his master?s degree in architecture. He is the son of Jerry and Darla Fleming.

LABAR, THE current scout master’s so

n, earned his Eagle rank December 6, 2007 after building and placing 15 large wood duck nesting boxes at Herman Vogler Recreation Area. He is a certified lifeguard and water safety instructor. His favorite scouting activities have been backpacking in the Porcupine Mountains, while locally he enjoyed camping and fishing at Rifes. LaBar will graduate from RCHS in June and is currently duel enrolled at ACC where he will have completed 21 credits at the end of this semester. His career goal is to receive an associate?s degree in recreation and park administration, or business. He is the son of Dana and Michelle LaBar.

The ceremony will include the “Light of Eagle” ceremony, which will be followed by the reciting of the scout oath, personal statements from the young men as well as the presentation of the award. The event gets underway at 5 p.m. with dinner to follow.