Three Northbrook teenagers will be flying high this coming Saturday when they are made “Eagle Scouts” at a ceremony in the village.
The “Eagle Scout” rank is only given to about 4 % of Scouts, and to have three given the rank at one ceremony is exceptional, said Kevin O’Donohue, assistant Scout Master with Scout Troop 67 in Northbrook.
“It’s very difficult to get the ‘Eagle,”‘ he said. “It’s something that very few do.”
“An Eagle rank is the highest rank in Boy Scouts,” he explained. “Once you’re an ‘Eagle Scout’ you’re an Eagle Scout for life and there’s a nationwide association of Eagle Scouts that’s like an alumni association.”
The three Scouts will be made “Eagles” during a 6 p.m. June 4 ceremony at the Village Presbyterian Church in the 1300 block of Shermer Road in Northbrook.
O’Donohue said bestowing the Eagle rank on the three Scouts is a recognition of the hard work and commitment they showed to Troop 67 over the years. He also said that each one of them had to complete a project benefiting the community in order to qualify as an “Eagle.”
Henry Clark, 18, and from Northbrook, restored and replanted gardens at the Northbrook United Methodist Church in the 1100 block of Western Avenue in Northbrook last summer. Alex O’Donohue, 16, and Kevin O’Donohue’s son, built “wild bee hotels” for bees at the Air Station “Prairie” at The Glen in Glenview, and Amol Sayala, 18, built a greenhouse at “The Grove” in Glenview.
Clark said the church grounds he restored were very overgrown and that there were a lot of weeds. But he said he was not deterred.
“The first thing we did was remove all the weeds and planted new plants that would come back every year and look nice,” he said. “Then we mulched it.”
The Glenbrook South High School graduate said the project was more difficult than he expected because he did it during the height of COVID-19.
“It was certainly tough,” he said. “I had to call all these different companies to help out and get plants.”
“You’re wearing a mask and social distancing,” he added. “I had to manage it, keep people separated and tell them what to do. You can’t have people next to each other working. It’s hard to communicate.”
But he said it was worth it because it allowed him to qualify to become an “Eagle Scout.”
“It feels good to be recognized for the work I put in,” he said. “It’s been a long journey, twelve years.”
O’Donohue said Scout Troop 67 has been operating for about 90 years out of the Village Presbyterian Church in Northbrook. He also said that over the past few years the Scouts have gone scuba diving in the Florida Keys and canoeing in the Louisiana, Bayou, among other things.
“I can see the growth of all three Scouts since when they first started,” he said.
“We like to emphasize the Eagle award and their entire career of being in the Scouts,” he said. “This is five to seven years of scouting experience leading up to the Eagle. We like to stress the leadership that goes into that and the whole Scouting experience that goes into that.”
Brian L. Cox is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
