By Ashley M. Casey

Staff Writer

Thanksgiving wasn’t the only reason for Jeffrey Eckhardt, Dan Gee and William Bishoff to celebrate last weekend. Eckhardt, Gee and Bishoff — all members of Boy Scout Troop 114 in Baldwinsville — were awarded the rank of Eagle Scout in a Court of Honor ceremony Nov. 25.

“The three boys have basically been in scouting together since they were very young and went through the years as best friends. While they each did a different Eagle Scout project, they all chose to become Eagle Scouts together, during the same ceremony,” said Mike Bishoff, father of William Bishoff.

Between 4 and 7 percent of Boy Scouts make it this far, and about 2.5 million young men have achieved the rank since 1912.

“Each boy had a slightly different track to getting their Eagle completed, but each one overcame obstacles, stuck with scouting for many years and are now about to receive scouting’s highest honor together,” Bishoff said.

Gee, now in his first year at Cabrini College in Pennsylvania, narrowly avoided a barrier to becoming an Eagle Scout: his own birthday.

“I was a little [nervous] because my birthday was coming up really fast — you can’t do it after you’re 18 years old — and it was like a month away,” he said.

Nevertheless, Gee hustled and completed his project, installing new mile markers on the trail in Lysander Park. He also helped extend the trail to a full mile.

“There are kids that run that trail almost every day during track or cross-country season, and I also see a lot of families walk that trail,” Gee said.

Two of Gee’s friends are wrestlers, and Lysander Recreation Supervisor Tony Burkinshaw coaches Baker’s varsity wrestling team.

“I started to talk to him about it. That’s what sparked the idea,” Gee said.

Over his 12 years in scouting, Gee said he has most enjoyed “camping, making friends and learning new skills I can use later in life.”

“It’s a push forward, a step ahead of everyone else,” he said of entering college with scouting skills, especially time management and organization. “You need that to succeed well in college. Without that you won’t get anything done. You start to fail classes.”

Gee said he is proud of achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.

“To me, it shows a lot of dedication and responsibility,” he said. “It shows that I had the willpower and the right push to finish something that took so long.”

As for Jeff Eckhardt, a senior at Baker, the leadership skills he has developed through scouting will help him as he plans to attend the University at Buffalo next year as an engineering major.

“It’s taught me skills that’ll help me to lead through class discussions and the workforce later on,” he said.

Eckhardt completed his Eagle project in the spring of 2016. He built a wheelchair ramp for St. Mary of the Assumption Church, which lent it to the Cutie family. Frankie Cutie, now 29, suffered a stroke after undergoing surgery for a brain tumor in August 2015.

“There’s always little things people can do to help each other,” Eckhardt told the Messenger in 2016. “It’s a friendly area, and we try to keep that going as best as we can.”

Eckhardt said it felt good to wrap up his decade-long scouting career by helping others in a unique way.

“I didn’t waste those 10 to 11 years, and the hard work ended up paying off,” he said.

Another reward, Eckhardt has found, is mentoring younger Boy Scouts who are following in his footsteps.

“I finally get to give to the younger scouts what I got from the older scouts before me, see the younger scouts succeed in the way the older scouts saw us succeed,” he said.

Gee and Eckhardt shared their advice for future Eagle Scout candidates.

“If you’re in Scouts, just stick with it until the end if you can,” Gee said. “Yes, life throws curveballs and you might not have time for Scouts, but you should try and make time.”

Eckhardt advised Eagle candidates not to push aside their projects

“Continue working at it,” he said. “If you push it aside, you’re not really going to come back to it or it’s more difficult to do.”

Instead of pushing a difficult task aside, one should push through and see it to the end.

“It’s just taught me that you might think that something’s more difficult than it is,” Eckhardt said. “It just might take a little more time from start to finish.”