12-Year-Old Works Towards Eagle Scout Rank with PTSD Film Screening

Jonah Reardon of La Grange will screen the documentary “On the Bridge” at the La Grange Theatre to raise awareness of post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans.

For some Boy Scouts, the Eagle Scout rank is achieved after seven full years of gradual effort. For a very select, very dedicated few—rarities like 12-year-old Jonah Reardon of La Grange—it can take less than two years of constant hard work. It still takes an Eagle Project, though, and Reardon will be fulfilling his on Nov. 24 when he hosts a screening of the documentary On the Bridge at the La Grange Theatre to spotlight the dangers of post-traumatic stress disorder in military veterans. Reardon got this idea after his first plan—a flagpole and flat outside the La Grange library—fell through. He heard NPR Worldview host Jerome McDonnell discussing the film and its revelations with its director, Oliver Morel. “I decided to still do [a …

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Learning Leadership and Building Fences

Scout Noah Reardon, 13, of La Grange, has been working hard on his summer break under a red-hot sun to better the La Grange Public Library, and learned some leadership skills along the way.

June was a tough month to try and tackle an outdoor project, but hot temperatures didn't keep Noah Reardon away from his. Reardon, 13, of La Grange, recently completed his Eagle Scout project by fixing up a fence along the south side of the La Grange Public Library parking lot. Even though it was his first time building a fence, Reardon said he learned a lot more than just construction by completing the project. "I learned a lot," Reardon said. "I learned to talk with professionals and to communicate a project and to organize a group." Reardon didn't waste any time going after the honored title of Eagle Scout this summer. While most scouts wait until closer to their senior year of high school to start their projects, Reardon will be …

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La Grange Park Live

Eagle Scout Project Helps Village of La Grange Park

If you drove by Jackson and Waiola on Saturday, you may be wondering what was going on. Joe Sauer, a Riverside Brookfield senior, was working on his Eagle Scout service project.

To attain the rank of Eagle Scout, a scout must earn 21 merit badges including such things as first aid, citizenship in the community, environmental science, personal fitness, family life, emergency preparedness and personal management. The potential Eagle Scout must also serve six months in a troop leadership position, take part in a Scoutmaster Conference and plan, develop and lead a service project for a church, school or community. The service project cannot be done for an individual or a business. Joe Sauer of La Grange Park began investigating possible projects with his church. They were pretty well set, with many projected plans already in the works. Joe's mom, Sheri Sauer, interfaces with the village management in La Grange Park …

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Moments

At Court of Honor, Local Boys Become Eagles

First United Methodist Church hosts a ceremony for four Boy Scouts from Des Plaines Valley Council Local Troop 14.

Four members of Local Troop 14 of the Boy Scouts of America Des Plaines Valley Council achieved the highest honor of any Scout today, becoming Eagle Scouts during the "Eagle Scout Court of Honor" hosted by First United Methodist Church, 100 W. Cossitt Ave. The new Eagles—Joseph Gross, Nolan Holt, Christopher Posta and Patrick Stelmack—spoke to the audience about their journeys in Boy Scouts and then received their Eagle Scout badges from members of their families. The ceremony—which also included reciting of the Scout Oath, the Eagle Scout Charge and the Eagle Scout Promise, as well as a presentation of flags once hung in the White House—is illustrated in the following photo gallery.

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Good Fellows

The Project Everyone Turned Down

Eagle Scout Patrick Stelmack took on the 600-hour construction of an accessible ramp for the La Grange Area Historical Society.

The La Grange Area Historical Society needed an accessible ramp—some board members and people attending events couldn't walk up the front steps of its headquarters, at 444 S. LaGrange Rd., a house dating to 1874. It was the perfect project for an Eagle Scout candidate. Yet all who were offered it declined. Until Patrick Stelmack got the chance. "I figured, my family and I are determined people. When we set out to do something, we do it. I looked at it as a new challenge," he said. He knew he could count on his family and friends to assist in the 600 hours of labor that began in January, which made the unveiling of the ramp all the more special. In fact, Stelmack's grandfather took the first walk up the ramp on June 24, and many have …

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Jennifer Fisher

10:26 am on Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Nice story, Beth! And great idea.   more ›