John Carlson is presented with the Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award for the Southern Region by officials from the Boy Scouts of America. From left are Dr. Don Robinson, John, Dr. Zach McCarty and Ryan Ivey.Signal Mountain Weekly readers may recall a December 2013 article focused on 15-year-old Signal resident John Carlson’s Eagle Scout project, which involved constructing the 14 Stations of the Cross in stone and bronze at St. Augustine Catholic Church.
John’s project has since been recognized as the area’s best, earning him the Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award for the Cherokee Area Council in April. He was then asked to submit a video detailing the process of the project’s completion to the Boy Scouts’ Southern Region, the nation’s largest region, which encompasses 13 states.
His efforts paid off. John was recently again recognized, this time with the Southern Region Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award. He was one of four Scouts to receive national recognition.
“I was really honored,” said John. “I was not really expecting it. It was really humbling.”
He said he was surprised his project beat out hundreds of others completed by Scouts throughout the Southern Region. The extensive amount of planning and fundraising that went into his project probably helped it stand out, as did the quality of the end result, he added.