Eddie Graham Receives Eagle Scout

Eddie Graham, 17, of Palatine Boy Scout Troop 188 received the Eagle Scout Award, the highest recognition in the Boys Scouts of America on March 14, 2013.  Eddie will be recognized for this award on August 2, 2013 at an Eagle Scout Court of Honor in Palatine Illinois. Eddie is the son of Greg Graham and Maryann Maas of Palatine, Illinois.

Eddie started his Scouting adventures in 2003 as a Cub Scout in Pack 289 in Palatine Illinois. During his time as a Cub Scout Eddie achieved the Arrow of Light Award, the highest distinction in Cub Scouting.

Through scouting, Eddie has hiked over 100 miles, canoed for days and days, camped over 75 nights and contributed over hundreds of hours of community service. He has served his troop as Senior Patrol Leader, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, Patrol Leader, and Troop Guide. He was elected by his fellow Scouts to the Order of the Arrow (OA), the national Boy Scout honor society. He served as Troop 188’s representative to the OA Lakota Lodge for 3 years, including planning and organizing the annual OA Banquet for greater than 200 OA Brothers. Eddie has earned 40 merit badges including horsemanship, electricity and electronics, nuclear science, small boat sailing, and lifesaving. Eddie sailed the Florida Keys for a week at Florida Sea Base, and twice spent a week canoeing in the Boundary Waters in Minnesota.

For his Eagle Scout project, Eddie planned and carried out a project for the Crabtree Nature Center of Cook County Illinois. Crabtree has 112 acres of woodland, wetland and prairie and provides habitats for 260 species of birds. Eddie led teams of Boy Scouts and community members in removing four dilapidated bird feeder support structures and building and installing four new support structures for Crabtree’s many bird feeders. Each support structure stands over 10 feet tall and can support 8 to 12 bird feeders. Crabtree visitors have often asked for the design plans in order to build the structures on their own property. Eddie also led a team to design and prepare 4 activity backpacks which provide activities for children to complete while visiting Crabtree. Visitors may borrow the activity backpacks from Crabtree’s Nature Center free of charge.

Eddie is a senior at Palatine High School where he serves as a peer mediator and competes on Palatine’s cross country and track teams. He enjoys running, has completed several half-marathons, and has a goal of completing a marathon and a triathlon. Eddie also traveled with his Mandarin classmates on a three-week culture and language immersion trip to China including touring and attending, for a week, a high school in Kunming China.

Eddie looks forward to high school senior year, college, and a career in medicine.