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Show Kyle David Jones Earns Eagle Award v cLX vjisv.'sy--. JlL! The Eagle Scout Court of Honor held for Kyle David Jones on September 26 was attended by more than 100 of the Jones' family, friends, ward members and past and present Scout leaders. The celebration was bittersweet and honored not only the Scout, but his parents who had encouraged and mentored his achievements. Kyle's mother, Jean, passed away unexpectedly six days after his Eagle Board '; of Review where he was ad- vanced to the rank of Eagle ! and her absence at this event was felt by all. j Earning the Eagle, the highest advancement rank in Scouting, is an achievement that only about five percent of Boy Scouts attain. Of this small number, an estimated seven percent earn their Eagle at age 12 or 13. Kyle joined ; this elite group by achieving j Eagle at the tender but accom plished age of 13. Having observed his fa-i fa-i ther as Scoutmaster, Kyle I entered Cub Scouts intent on I earning every award, badge j and advancement available. With the encouragement and : help from his parents and Scout leaders, he achieved and exceeded his goal. His Scout-; Scout-; master father had made Scout- i ing look fun and Kyle came on board with enthusiasm and j direction. j After earning the Arrow of Light, Kyle turned his focus J to the Eagle. His first merit j badge was Scholarship that j required a 400-word essay i on how he valued education. From there he began his quest i to reach Eagle and to date has earned 72 merit badges and j one palm. ! At this time Kyle also set ! his sights on attending the 100 year Jamboree that would be held two years later in 2010. He needed to earn $3,000 to attend and began selling popcorn pop-corn and concessions at BYU games and cleaning a warehouse ware-house on weekends. He even sold one of his hunting rifles to make up the difference. His Eagle project was labeling all the chairs and tables in his Stake which included in-cluded three buildings and attaching at-taching over 1 ,000 labels. After Kyle's mother's passing, neighbor Betsy Den-ney Den-ney contacted the Scout office of-fice and asked for the Eagle pins to be expedited. She : understood the importance of the mother's pin and in a tear-filled, private ceremony, Kyle pinned his mother in her casket. At his Eagle court, he pinned his grandmother for being his mentor. Kyle admits that even though he is self -motivated, his parents have been a big : factor in keeping him focused on his goal of Eagle and now plans to earn all 142 merit badges. Three weeks after his mother's passing, Kyle boarded a plane for Virginia and the Jamboree. While it was difficult to leave his family, fam-ily, the encouragement from loved ones gave him the courage cour-age to attend this once in a , lifetime adventure, a decision he will never regret. While life is ever a challenge, chal-lenge, Kyle has learned that his support system is firmly in tact and that whateer goal he sets, there will be many to help him achieve it. His Eagle is just the beginning. |