Eagle Scout betters Medfield Community with a home for Chuck!

Medfield MA

27 July, 2021

10:34 PM

Description

Eagle Scout betters Medfield Community with a home for Chuck! Members of Scouts BSA are a proud group and becoming an Eagle Scout is quite the endeavor and one that isn't taken lightly. David Tyler Jones, a member of Troop 10 in Medfield is the most recent Eagle Scout whose rank of Eagle was celebrated at his Court of Honor on June 19, 2021 at Rocky Woods Pavilion with his parents, friends and other Scouts in attendance. Jones was officially awarded the rank in January of 2020 with plans of having the ceremony later that year but had to be postponed until COVID restrictions regarding large gatherings were lifted. Per Jones' Eagle Scout program, "The Eagle Scout Award is the highest award available to youth members of Scouts BSA. It represents many years of dedicated effort, and the successful completion of a long process which started when a boy or girl became a Scout. It can truly help mold a young person with a solid sense of leadership, citizenship and responsibility." Jones' parents, Doug and Yumi were beaming with pride at the ceremony and making it even more special is Jones has become the 3rd member of his family to join the Eagle rank in addition to his father and his uncle Roger. The Eagle Scout Service Project, which every potential Eagle Scout must fulfill before becoming an Eagle, entails many steps which the Scout must accomplish within a very specific timeline, including approvals, signatures and evaluations. Every Scout must identify the service project that is achievable and apropos to them. Jones, Medfield High School Class of 2021 recent graduate, chose to replace, design and build 2 feral cat houses just outside of the Medfield Animal Shelter. These were completed and installed in August of 2019. This project took well over 200 hours to complete from start to finish. The finished products are sturdy (weighing 400-500lbs each), made with cedar shingles on the walls and roof and are safe-havens for feral cats. The design allows for feeding, cleaning and safe passage for the feral to exit (an escape hatch on back) if they feel threatened, and these houses are a huge upgrade for the cats. Jones worked with the Medfield Animal Shelter President, Mike Barta and the staff of the shelter to determine the exact need, space and design of this project. The cost of the materials was afforded by donations made by both the Animal Shelter and Medfield's New N' Towne group. One of the feral houses has been nicknamed "Chateau Chuck" and rightly so, as feral cat, "Chuck" has found this new structure to suit him quite well. When discussing the people involved in this project, Jones was quick to thank Barta and Medfield Animal Shelter's director Kim Agricola, his Scoutmaster Matt Johnson, his Troop Committee Chairman Stephen Leach and both of his parents who provided unlimited support to him along the way. In the fall, David will be attending Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania but he plans to continue participating and supporting Troop 10 as an adult leader when he is home from college. In September 2019, when asked how he felt about completing this project he stated, "I'm exhausted, proud and pleased." As stated on the BOY SCOUTS of AMERICA website, "Since 1912, the Eagle Scout rank has represented a milestone of accomplishment—perhaps without equal—that is recognized across the country and even the world. Those who have earned the Eagle Scout rank count it among their most treasured achievements. "Eagle Scout" is not just an award; it is a state of being. Those who earned it as youth continue to earn it every day as adults. That is why an Eagle Scout IS an Eagle Scout—not was." For more information on Scouting and the opportunities it provides to boys and girls ages 11-17 please visit www.scouting.org .