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Proc. 2015-XXXX - Matthew Fields Eagle Scout - PROCLAMATION NO. 2015-XXXX WHEREAS the conferring of the designation of Eagle Scout is one of the highest awards that can be bestowed upon a Boy Scout as it requires years of dedication and commitment to achieve, since Eagle Scouts act as leaders and role models in the community; and WHEREAS Zachary Bonnier began scouting as a Cub Scout in Pack 98, eventually earning 31 merit badges in Boy Scout Troop 114, where he also enjoyed serving as Troop Quartermaster and volunteering with local institutions such as the Sam Houston Folk Festival, Wynne Home Arts Center, HEARTS Veterans Museum, The Phoenix Commotion, and the Lion’s Club annual Raven Ride; and WHEREAS a new footbridge on the grounds of the Sam Houston Memorial Museum was constructed as Zachary’s Eagle Scout project, which he completed with assistance from Peter Grivich and his crew; and WHEREAS throughout his years of scouting, Zachary has been blessed with mentorship from Michael Harper, Josh Starkey, Tom Reynolds, Larry Fusaro, and Karla Christian, among many other outstanding Troop 114 parents; and WHEREAS the City of Huntsville is proud of Matthew Fields, as he exemplifies the values that make a community strong. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY PROCLAIMED, by the power vested in me as Mayor of the City of Huntsville, Texas that: April 6, 2014 be declared: Matthew Fields Day in the City of Huntsville and call upon our citizens to join in the celebration of this achievement and acknowledge his special contributions to our community. PROCLAIMED AND SIGNED this 6th day of April 2014. ___ __________________ Mac Woodward, Mayor I started Scouting when I was 10 years old 2010. I was the only one in my Webelos den to earn all 20 activity pins to get the super achievement patch. I also earned my Arrow of Light. While I was a Webelos I put my information in the time capsule at the Josey Scout Lodge. I crossed over in Feb. 2011 and on the first day I earned my first merit badge. Since then I have earned these Merit Badges: Art, American Culture, Aviation, Camping, Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World, Climbing, Collection, Chess, Coin collecting, Disability awareness, electricity, Emergency preparedness, Engineering, Environmental science, Finger printing, First aid, Forestry, Home repairs, Pets, Photography, Pottery, Reptile and amphibian study, Rifle shooting, Robotics, Safety, Scouting heritage, Skating, Snow sports, Space exploration, Swimming, and Wood carving. On an interesting note, I would like to inform you that when I went on a summer camp while I was in the Webelos at Camp Bovay and while I was on my first Boy Scout summer camp at Trevor Reeves near Dallas, I learned how to survive tornados because at both camps a tornado set down close to the camps. There was a lot of wind and rain and everything I had with me got soaking wet. Over all the camps were a lot of fun and I enjoyed them. I earned Tenderfoot on 5/3/11, 2nd Class on 10/11/11, 1st Class 0n 6/9/12, Star on 10/16/12, and Life on 7/17/13. I have helped out with Cub Day Camp for 1 year, I have helped do the Flag Ceremony at Relay for Life for 5 years, I helped out with the City Pet Show, I have refereed the robotics competitions four times, I have helped carry the flags for the Christmas Parade, and I helped my Dad repair the Josey Boy Scout Lodge. I have been an Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, a Patrol Leader, the Quartermaster, the Historian, and a Den Chef. As the Historian I am trying to gather information, newspaper articles, and pictures about the Troop and making a scrapbook so that all the boys now and in the future will always be able to know all about the troop. I am working on the William T. Hornaday Award. Since it got started in 1077 only 6 boys have ever earned the Bronze Medal foe doing 3 conservation projects and only 6 boys have earned the Silver Medal for doing 4 conservation projects. All the projects are equal to an Eagle project. I am trying to be the first one to earn the Silver Medal in this area. I have completed my 1st project which was dealing with recycling. I have been going to several businesses and collecting their recycling material for two and a half years and I have helped out with the city Trash Bash and also the Electronic Recycling Day. The main purpose of the recycling is to keep the things that can be recycled out of the landfill. That way the landfills will not get full so fast so they can last longer. My second project is going to be to solve the erosion problem on the parking lot side of the Scout Lodge. I am going to lay at least two rows of railroad ties along the hill side and then fill in behind the railroad ties with wood chips and dirt to give the landscape a tear step design. I don’t know what the other two will be as of now but one will be at the new Camp Strake. My Eagle project is to build two Flag Retirement boxes. I will put one in front of the City Hall and one in front of the Walker County Courthouse. The boxes are for the public, both city and county, to put their worn and tattered flags in. I will keep checking the boxes each week for flags and will collect them to retire at a different time. On May 31st at 6:00 pm behind the Josey Scout Lodge, I will be showing the public how to retire both American and Texas Flags properly. The Troop and I will keep the project going. We will retire flags every year so the flags will be retired respectfully. There are a lot of different ceremonies for retiring flags but the one I will be doing is one of the most interesting ones. Also I will be retiring two special flags one is a 100 ft. by 50 ft. American Flag and the other is a large Texas Flag. I came up with the idea when I went to talk to the Mayor about an issue that concerned me with the city. I was working on a requirement for the Citizenship in the Community merit badge, and the issue was what the city did with their tattered flags because when I went to the library and I saw they were flying torn flags. I told them about it and when I went back a couple of days later the flags were new. The problem was when I asked what they did with the old flags they did not know. So while I was talking to the Mayor he suggested that I build some flag boxes so I accepted. When I age out, that is when I turn 18, I still want to help out with the Scouting program. When I am not doing Scouts in the future, I want to be a game designer and digital programmer. To earn the Eagle rank is important to me because, not only does it look good on your resume, it shows that you will go all the way and not give up. It shows that I can lead when it is necessary and it also lets people know that I care about them and the environment in which we live in.