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Chad Turney, Louisburg High School junior, was promoted to an Eagle Scout and recognized on Oct. 10 for his community service work at Indian Cemetery, south of Louisburg. Turney, part of the Cleveland Freeman Troop 256, has been a scout since he was a youngster, starting out as a Tiger Scout, according to his mother Torry Turney.
Chad said he was originally inspired to clean up Indian Cemetery from an editorial that ran in Th e Herald on Jan. 24 in 2007, which was written by Larry McGee and expressed concern about the deteriorating cemetery. The cemetery was founded during the 1800s and includes 30 to 40 graves on an area of about 2 acres. Chad completed his project in a day during October of 2007 with the help of fellow scouts and their parents.
Chad said the Historical Society of Miami County provided contact information of the owners of the cemetery, who reside in Florida. Chad said the owners expressed their desire to be there to watch the restoration of the cemetery, but did not come up until after the project had been completed.
“They really appreciated the work that went into it,” Torry said.
Chad said one of the hardest aspects of the project was just getting the equipment back to the cemetery to start work on it.
“We had lawn mowers, Weed Eaters, trucks and clippers,” Chad said, “and the ground was still wet and was hard to get back in there.” Chad added that several small trees had started to grow up in between the graves and were removed. Tall weeds and grass were mowed down so the graves could be clearly visible.
The five others who received their Eagle Scout Award along with Chad are: Gus Hill, Mitchell Southard, Kent Dibben, Kyle Dibben and Lucas Owens, all of Troop 256. The scouts received their awards from Scoutmaster Doug Dibben.
“I’m extremely proud,” Torry said of her son. “It’s hard enough to achieve, but he did it on top of being so involved in sports.”
Chad participates in football, wrestling and baseball when he’s not meeting every Tuesday with the scouts. Torry added that only about 4 percent of scouts receive the Eagle Scout Award.
“It really teaches you a lot of life skills,” Chad said of his years as a scout. “And it’s really the company of the other guys in the troop,” Chad said of getting involved. He said he’d been with some of the current scouts since he was very young and that the camaraderie was what brought them all closer.
Torry said Chad has earned 33 merit badges and has held the leadership positions of Assistant Patrol Leader, Patrol Leader and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader. She added that he has attended the H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation for six years and during his years at camp, entered the Tribe of Mic-O-Say and is currently a Firebuilder.
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