Troop 1760 Eagle Scouts

Boy Scout Troop 1760 in Gaithersburg, Maryland, will honor the advancement of four Scouts to the rank of Eagle Scout.  These four young men; Eli Austin Blaker, Joshua John Cocker, Jake Durham Griffin and Nicholas Daniel Youngs, have achieved the Eagle Scout rank for their Boy Scout honors, meritorious badges, and planning, developing, and providing leadership in a service project that benefited their community.  Only four percent of Scouts attain Eagle Scout, the highest rank of the Boy Scouts of America.  Boy Scout Troop 1760 is quite proud of these young men and their significant accomplishments.

ELI AUSTIN BLAKER, a sophomore at Poolesville Magnet High School in Poolesville, Maryland, was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout on April 25, 2014.  Along with other leadership positions in BSA Troop 1760, Eli has most recently served as the Chaplain’s Aide and has accumulated 28 merit badges to date.  Eli’s Eagle project took place on April 12, 2014, with more than 35 volunteers ready to assist.  His project was coordinated and fully funded by the City of Gaithersburg to improve the 22-acre City-owned Washingtonian Woods Park.  The project consisted of constructing and installing non-porous dog paths on three 25-40’ steel-grated bridges crossing the Muddy Branch stream in the park.  Along with this challenging task, he and his volunteers refurbished an aging wooden bridge, performed reforestation and removed debris from the stream and surrounding park area.  The difficulty in this project along with tasks undertaken, was managing all of his Scout and adult volunteers over such a wide area of work.  At the end of the day, dogs were already gravitating to their personal bridge walkways, eliminating their paws being stuck in the open steel grates, and the stream was flowing more freely and free of debris.  The Muddy Branch is a tributary stream of the Potomac River in Montgomery County, Maryland.

JOSHUA JOHN COCKER, a junior at Poolesville Magnet High School in Poolesville, Maryland, was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout on February 26, 2014, having earned 25 merit badges and completing his service project.  Josh designed and built a Labyrinth Meditation Garden at the United Churches of Christ Seneca Valley, located on Clopper Road, in Germantown, Maryland.  The project involved Josh designing a Labyrinth, lying over 670 pavers to build the labyrinth, installing four flower beds around it, building an arbor, and putting in two benches.  The garden is free and open for all in the local community to use and enjoy.

JAKE DURHAM GRIFFIN, a junior at Northwest High School in Germantown, Maryland, was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout on February 28, 2014, having earned 27 merit badges and completing his service project.  Jake’s project took place at Seneca Creek State Park at the Chickadee Pavilion picnic area located in Gaithersburg, Maryland.  The project date took place on Saturday, November 16, 2013, and consisted of building two sets of steps that connected the parking lot to the upper picnic area.  The steps make the walk up the incline much easier, especially when carrying food and gear to the picnic area for all the park visitors.

NICHOLAS DANIEL YOUNGS, a junior at Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg, Maryland, was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout on January 24, 2014, having earned 25 merit badges and completing his service project, which was downloading specific music onto iPods for Alzheimer residents at Asbury Methodist Village, a local retirement center in Gaithersburg, Maryland.  The project included obtaining donated iPods, iTunes cards, and recruiting Scout volunteers to interview family members of the residents and programing their selections onto the iPods.  All funding was provided by donations from friends, family, local businesses and the Music and Memory Foundation.  The local news station, WJLA (Channel 7), located in Washington, D.C., aired a segment on the project in conjunction with Asbury Methodist Village, depicting the benefits of music for the residents.

A Court of Honor ceremony will be held on Saturday, May 10, 2014, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at the First Baptist Church of Gaithersburg, 200 W Diamond Avenue, Gaithersburg, Maryland, to award these four young men with their Eagle Badge.