Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 21, 1991 TAG: 9103210268
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JOE TENNIS/ SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Freilich was the first of six Scouts in Troop 704 of the New River District and Blue Ridge Mountains Council to reach Eagle rank during the 15 months of May 1989 to August 1990.
Statistically, just 1 percent to 2 percent of all Boy Scouts in the nation make it to the Eagle Scout level, said Robert Bates, troop 704's scoutmaster.
About 12 to 18 Scouts belonged to troop 704 during the days the troop named six members with the Boy Scouts' highest rank.
Bates and Jerome Long, the troop's scoutmaster from 1979 to 1989, said producing so many Eagle Scouts in such a short time is unusual for such a small troop.
"It wasn't so much that it was an Eagle mill," Bates said. "The thing to point out is the fact these boys stayed in the troop."
Long added: "So often in Scouts, there's a pretty large turnover. By the time they make first-class, half of the boys are gone."
A first-class rank is half-way up the ladder from an entry-level Scout to an exiting Eagle Scout. Long compared making the first-class rank to equaling a sergeant in the Army.
Eagle Scout candidates must be under 18 to be eligible for the rank, which also must be approved by the national Boy Scout organization.
Long, who is still active on the Scout troop's advising committee, attributes the troop's success to Freilich, now a student at the University of Virginia.
"My guess is half of them wouldn't have ever made Eagle if they hadn't had Tim Freilich," Long said. "He provided, to a large extent, the moral example."
Each Eagle Scout candidate must plan, develop and give leadership to others in a service project to any religious institution, school or community.
Freilich's project involved dozens of Scouts and students from clubs and groups at Blacksburg High School.
The volunteers contributed items and time to the Christmas Store, a communitywide project which stocks new goods for purchase, through a system of points, by low-income families during the Christmas season. The point system is determined by a family's size.
"Tim was very dedicated," said Barbara Keown, co-chairwoman of the Christmas Store. "He became very committed to our store. Every weekend, he organized kids who came faithfully to help get that store set up, which is a huge project."
Three other Scouts, Joel Braun, David Crittenden and Daniel Brown, helped set up individual projects to reroute or rebuild sections of the Appalachian Trail.
These projects employed the skills and service of several Scouts, who also enjoyed some benefits along the way.
"One of the things all these guys enjoyed, as Scouts, was getting out and hiking the Appalachian Trail," Long said.
Another Eagle Scout, Eric Shumsky, who will attend Yale University next fall, developed a project to fingerprint local children to provide parents with a personal identification file.
Charles Peterson, now a Fourth Class Cadet at the United States Air Force Academy, won his Eagle Scout award last August after building a set of steps and a walkway to connect the upper and lower parking lot at Luther Memorial Lutheran Church.
The church, located at the corner of Prices Fork Road and Toms Creek Road, is the troop's sponsor.
Long and Bates were named Eagle Scouts during the 1950s. One of Long's sons, Christopher, was a charter member of the 17-year-old Troop 704 and was one of its first Eagle Scouts.
Currently, 29 boys belong to the troop. Bates said the organization doubled its size in recent months because an increasing number of Cub Scouts entered the ranks.
That increase could owe some thanks to the six recently named Eagle Scouts, who were popular den chiefs for the Cub Scout troops, Bates said.
More Eagle Scouts from the troop could be on their way, Bates and Long said. One potential candidate is Bates' son, Scott, a 15-year-old life Scout.
by CNB