Troop 30 of Centreville honored John Dickenson who earned the rank of Eagle Scout in a ceremony on Aug. 2. John is a rising 12th grader who attended Westfield High School but who just moved to Germany for his senior year in high school. John was recognized for his significant achievements and leadership in the ceremony held at the troop's chartered organization, Centreville Presbyterian Church.
John earned 29 merit badges and for his Eagle Scout Service Project led a team of 15 workers through 230 hours of effort building camp site food storage boxes that had deteriorated. The food boxes are essential due to frequent wildlife activity. His efforts enhanced several retreat camp sites utilized by various youth organizations across Northern Virginia for team building and training.
John had a busy school year as a member of Westfield’s Crew Team, finished his Eagle Project and remaining merit badges, and attended a 10-day back-country wilderness hike at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico.
John’s Eagle award was pinned on by his mother. His father could not return from Germany for the ceremony, having taken command of the U.S. Army Garrison in Stuttgart. John’s family moved there to join him within days after the ceremony. John decided to make light of this fact and had a “Fat Head” of his father’s face on a broom as a stand-in during critical moments of the ceremony — eliciting laughs from the audience.
Troop 30, a mid-sized troop, started in 1999 and is known for its home-town community feel.