Boy Scout Troop 1750 of Finksburg celebrated its first Eagle Court of Honor for 2015 on Jan. 10 as Nicholas "Nick" Lee Beavin received his Eagle rank at Mount Zion United Methodist Church.
He started his Scouting experience as a Tiger Scout in first grade. He began in Pack 150 in Gamber. He participated in four pinewood derbies and won several craftsman trophies. He received many belt-loops and participated in many Cub Scout pack events.
He joined Troop 1750 as a Boy Scout when he was in the sixth grade. In that troop, he did a couple of bike trips as well as a canoe trip down the Potomac. He also did a couple of hikes on the Appalachian Trail. He participated in several annual Thanksgiving dinners on campouts when it was around the holiday. The troop usually invited Webelos.
Beavin also spent a week one summer at the Carroll County Agriculture Center, where Carroll County Cub Scout packs had a "summer camp" and he volunteered for a week at the volleyball station.
Beavin attended six summer camps: Broad Creek, Bay Port, Ockanickin (two years) and Powhatan (two years), and he earned 24 merit badges. He enjoys fishing. He learned how to fly-fish and tie flies at Camp Ockanickin. Also, he enjoyed fish camp at Camp Powhatan.
He has attended two high-adventure camps: Northern Tier and Seabase. At Northern Tier, he canoed 75 miles. He heard loons, caught fish, ate fish and saw wildlife such as eagles. At Seabase, he snorkeled down to a display underwater of a sunken ship. He also got to steer a sailboat.
When it came time to start on his Eagle Scout project, Beavin put his skills to use to build a brick circle along the walking path at Strawbridge Shrine in New Windsor. He had been a student at the Carroll County Career and Technology Center for masonry.
He used mortar between the bricks. In the center of the brick circle, his team of volunteers placed a cross that is seven feet tall. Then they filled the inner brick circle area surrounding the base of the cross with peat moss. This small elevated area is for annual flowers. On each side of the existing path, they placed two concrete benches donated by Babylon Vault Company.
Beavin received many congratulatory letters from public officials, including the National Lutheran Association on Scouting, U.S. Sen. Benjamin Cardin, U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski and Vice President Joe Biden.
Beavin, adopted from Ukraine, also received a congratulatory letter from the Ukrainian embassy.
Many friends and family members attended the Court of Honor.
Beavin and his family attend Trinity Lutheran Church in Westminster.
Beavin, who graduated from Westminster High School in 2014, has started a program at the Community College of Baltimore County and he continues with Troop 1750 as an Assistant Scoutmaster.
Editors note:In an earlier version of this story, the name of the company that donated the concrete benches was incorrect.
