Adam Flannigan poised to become Eagle Scout

A court of honor to install Adam Flannigan, 18, as Eagle Scout is set for 1 p.m. this Saturday at the Dexter United Methodist Church. And like the 10 Eagle Scouts before him in Troop 200 in the last five years, Flannigan has demonstrated his ability to lead and to manage resources, personnel and scheduling in a service project to benefit the entire community.

"My project was to install two flag poles at the Dexter United Methodist Church," he said Monday afternoon. He added the project included flagstones around the flagpoles, as well as landscaping and a light for the flag poles.

And it involved "a ton" of people. "There were a total of 50 people working on it," Flannigan said, "not counting me."

The project stared on Feb. 17 of last year. Flannigan said it was supposed to take a month to complete.

But because of uncooperative weather and other factors out of his control it took a bit longer. "We started in February, and one day after we started it snowed," he said.

Flannigan said the project took till May to complete. "So we started in snow and ended up working in shorts," he said with a grin.

The experience taught him several important lessons. "The first one is to plan for the unexpected, like the weather," Flannigan said.

He also said scheduling proved to be a real challenge. "The labor is supposed to be done by mostly Scouts," Flannigan said, "except for the dangerous stuff, like electrical wiring and pouring concrete."

And getting his people, the electrician and the necessary supplies all at the same place at the same time proved extremely tricky.

But it did get done, as did raising the $3,780 for the project. "The United Methodist Men gave us some money," Flannigan said, "and I had to go out and raise the rest from people in the community."

Flannigan has been in Scouting ever since he was a Tiger Scout in kindergarten. Achievement of Eagle Scout rank represents the pinnacle of Scouting as the top achievable rank.

In addition to completion of the project, Flannigan has to have acquired at least 21 merit badges, including 12 specific badges, for Eagle Scout rank. The mandatory badges are: Camping, Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World, Communications, Emergency Preparedness, Environmental Science, First Aid, Swimming, Financial Management, Personal Management, Personal Fitness and Family Life.

Flannigan has a total of 26 merit badges.

Nationwide, only about 2 percent of Scouts achieve Eagle Scout rank. But in Troop 200, Flannigan will join Greg and Steve Ulm, Tyler Gillespie, Steve Kent and Wesley Rogers as Eagle Scouts currently in the troop.

Well-known people who were once Eagle Scouts include the late President Gerald Ford; astronauts Neil Armstrong, James Lovell and William McCool; Wal-mart founder Sam Walton, filmmaking legend Steven Spielberg, Superman author Jay North and current director of the Missouri Office of Administration - and Dexter resident - Mike Keathley.

gexelby@dailystatesman.com