Beaver County troop celebrates 100th, 101st Eagle Scouts

BADEN — A local Boy Scout troop recently made Eagle Scout history.

Two Baden Scout Troop 405 members last month graduated to Eagle Scout status, the 100th and 101st Scouts to do so in the troop. Officials said this is an exemplary accomplishment considering only 2% of Boy Scouts reach the Eagle Scout rank.

On the night of June 19 at Baden Lions Park, Troop 405 members, family and friends gathered to commemorate the two youngsters' journey. David McCombs and Evan Houy have both been involved in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts since their youth and now finally made it to this coveted position.

Ceremony and tradition were the themes of the night as Scout leader Bryce Miller led the group in a series of pledges, oaths and prayers.

He finished with a speech looking back on Houy and McCombs’ accomplishments, as he had known them since they were little. Miller stressed the major responsibility of being an Eagle Scout is the duty, “To be loyal and a leader, courageous, serving others, and having vision.”

The two boys followed with speeches of their own, thanking family and friends for what had led them to this point.

While the ceremony was short and sweet, the steps taken for it had been years – almost a century in the making, Troop 405 was first established in 1916 and has continuously been a part of Beaver County. The troop was active and inactive for the first 15 years of its existence; the real birth of the troop began in October 1930 with the start of the Baden Scouters’ Committee, which is in place to this day. With this ceremony, 101 Eagle Scouts have been initiated in Troop 405.

Baden Troop 405 has a long history, as do the two newly established Eagle Scouts. Both teens went through years of Scouting, camping and training, all to accumulate in an Eagle Scout project.

Eighteen-year-old McCombs has been in Scouts since the second grade. His journey started with a different troop, but he eventually found his way to Troop 405.

“Finding my troop was the hardest part (of this journey) … being here helped me find my confidence,” he said. His Eagle Scout project consisted of helping the Sisters of Saint Joseph remove bats from their congregation’s building.

Baden resident Houy started Scouts just as early; being a part of Cub Scouts for 12 years before graduating to Troop 405 and scouting there for seven years. His project went a completely different route, as he created an entirely new and improved sign for the Baden Lions Park. “(To me), Boy Scouts is not an activity you do, but it’s a way you live life,” Houy said.

With an Eagle Scout pin now on their resume, Houy and McCombs will look back at all the time they spent as Scouts and be grateful for the lessons they’ve learned.

“It’s changed me a lot, I’m a real leader now,” McCombs said.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Beaver County troop celebrates 100th, 101st Eagle Scouts