Chesterton Tribune

 

 

Andrew Hurst completes path to Eagle Scout

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Andrew Hurst, 18, son of Brenda and Charles Hurst of Chesterton, Ind., has earned the highest award the Boy Scouts of America offers to Scouts, the Eagle Scout Award.

Hurst is a member of Boy Scout Troop 998, sponsored by St. Patrick Church, under the direction of Scoutmaster Charles Olson. His Eagle Scout Court of Honor was held November 3, 2013, at the Coffee Creek Watershed Pavilion with family, friends, and his fellow Scouting community.

Hurst joins an elite group of young men who have achieved the Eagle rank, earning at least 21 merit badges, holding leadership positions within the troop, participating in service projects, and completing an Eagle Scout community service project. Hurst served as Troop 998’s Senior Patrol Leader in 2012 and 2013.

A senior at Chesterton High School, Hurst is a member of the varsity swim team and serves as co-captain. He is also a member of the National Honor Society, Natural Helpers Program, and Japanese Club. In addition to Scouting, outside of school he volunteers as a swim coach for Porter County Special Olympics. He plans to study biology with a minor in Japanese in college.

Hurst’s project was planning, organizing, and managing the construction and installation of eight mile marker posts (mile and half-mile) for 3.1 miles along Chesterton’s section of the Prairie Duneland Trail, starting with a “zero” marker at its east end point on 15th Street. The project, planned over several months with the assistance of Parks Department Superintendent Bruce Mathias and his staff, was completed over two work weekends for manufacturing and installing the posts.

Many Scout members and parents of Troop 998 assisted Hurst with the work weekends to create the posts and transport heavy equipment and supplies, much by foot, over the six mile round trip span to complete the installation.

As a Scout and athlete, Hurst saw the project as a way to improve the trail’s features for the community’s casual walkers, joggers, and cyclists--giving them a simple way to mark a 10K distance and encourage use of the trail for physical fitness year-round.

 

 

Posted 11/14/2013

 
 

 

 

 

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