Stuart Achieves Eagle Scout Rank

Tuppers Plains, OH – Bethel Worship Center announced the conferral by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) of its highest rank on John M. Stuart, 17, one of Bethel’s youth members and son of Doug and Brenda Stuart of Pomeroy. Bethel officials noted that a formal Eagle Scout Court of Honor ceremony for Stuart will be held at Hemlock Grove Christian Church, local sponsor of Stuart’s Scout Troop 299, this Sunday, November 9th at 2:00 p.m. Bethel Senior Pastor Rob Barber recognized Stuart during Bethel’s morning service last Sunday, characterizing the achievement as a “huge accomplishment.” Randy Jewell, Bethel’s youth pastor, and Barber will conduct the opening and closing prayers at the Eagle ceremony, while Stuart’s Scoutmaster, Greg McCall of Pomeroy Troop 299, and J. R. Spencer, Senior District Executive for BSA’s Buckskin Council of Charleston, W. Va., are scheduled speakers and will lead the ceremony. In addition, a special video message will be given by “One-Armed Keyboardist” Todd Waites, of Columbus, O., a nationally known Christian rock musician, motivational speaker, and advocate for youth and amputees (see www.toddwaites.com). Waites expressed regret that he is touring and unavailable to personally attend the ceremony.

The Stuarts are long-time members of Bethel Worship Center, and John has been involved with its “Revolution” youth group over the years, having designed the youth group’s web site, among many others. Stuart said that his part-time web site design business, StuartDigital.net, which he founded in 2011 and operates out of his home, has provided steady income while pursuing his school studies, scouting activities, and volunteer work at his church and with the Boy Scouts. Stuart also said he voluntarily designed and contributed a site for his own Scout Troop 299, and that his computer firm’s commercial work has included retail stores, a fire department, an insurance agency, and sites for one of his regular clients, Mr. Waites.

Stuart, who was raised in Meigs County, moved to Ohio from Virginia with his family in 1998, and is a high school student at Ohio Connections Academy (OCA), an online public school with current enrollment of over 3,600 in the state. Having been home schooled formerly, Stuart joined OCA in 2011, and enjoys friendship with several fellow OCA students in the county, and in his own scout troop. He plans to attend college after graduating, and says he would like to become a police officer to save and keep people safe, become certified in Information Technology, and design a smartphone “app” used every day by the average person—all while continuing to grow his web business. Stuart also volunteers as a current member of the Meigs County Junior Fair Board, and has frequently donated his services running sound at his church.

Stuart’s involvement with the Boy Scouts began in 2006 as a Cub Scout with Pack 240 of Rutland, led by his father as Cubmaster for three years. Many campouts, pack meetings and Pinewood Derbies later, Stuart went on to earn Cub Scouting’s highest rank, the Arrow of Light, before “crossing over” to the Boy Scouts in 2009 as a new Tenderfoot rank in McCall’s Troop 299. Stuart was employed by and lived at Boy Scout Camp Arrowhead in Ona, W. Va. during the summers of 2012 and 2013, providing merit badge instruction to other scouts, among other duties. He was later nominated by his fellow scouts to the Order of the Arrow (OA), a national BSA honor fraternity, and in 2013 was appointed Youth Arrowman of the Year by the leadership of BSA’s Tri-State Council in Huntington, W. Va. Steadily earning a series of merit badges himself, including one requiring a 20-mile hike in one day, and achieving the successive ranks of Second Class, First Class, Star, and Life Scout, Stuart completed his final requirement for the Eagle rank this summer, a community service project of his own choice, design and execution, along with help from his troop: construction and installation of a “Little Free Library,” a self-serve “books in a box” mini-lending library operating 24/7 under the honor system motto, “Take A Book, Return A Book,” which Stuart built and donated to the Village of Syracuse (see www.littlefreelibrary.org).

Stuart says he is on track this year to acquire the Eagle Palm as well, an additional “bonus” level beyond Eagle that scouts may complete before their eighteenth birthday. Stuart joins an exclusive “club” of familiar faces with his fellow Eagles, as he pointed out that he has two first cousins and an uncle who are Eagle Scouts, as well as several former and current members of his own troop. Scoutmaster McCall, a retired school teacher, is himself a 1963 Eagle Scout, and sports a legacy of 21 additional boys achieving the coveted rank under his watch, since the 1994inception of Troop 299. According to BSA official records, only about six percent of all Boy Scouts achieved the rank of Eagle in 2013. Stuart noted that scouting is a tradition in his family, with his dad, several uncles and cousins all former Scouts, and his deceased grandfather, George E. Holman, an active Scoutmaster in Meigs County for many years. On finally reaching his goal, Stuart observed, “Becoming an Eagle Scout feels good! Thanks to all the people who’ve helped me on my scouting journey, I feel like I’ve completed something great, and I know that all my hard work has paid off.”