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| Teenager earns highest scouting rank |
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| Written by Maddy Houk / Patterson Irrigator / | |
| Wednesday, 30 July 2008 | |
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At a glance
Ricky Howard of Boy Scout Troop 81 will be honored with an Eagle Scout Court of Honor on Saturday. Howard, 15, is the son of Tammy and Chris Howard. He received his Eagle rank Feb. 20. The award is the culmination of years of hard work for Howard, and it puts him in an elite class. Only four in 100 Scouts gets to be an Eagle. “I learned so much leadership and planning ahead and how to run the troop as one,” Howard said. Besides earning merit badges to attain the highest rank in Boy Scouts, Howard organized a service project, in which he and his helpers prepared and then painted the cafeteria at Northmead Elementary School last summer. His mother works at the school and had asked now-retired Principal Cathy Silva what the school needed. “We had a short amount of time, because school was starting on that Monday,” Howard said. “We took all the staples out of the walls, precleaned all day Friday and laid down all the mats for painting.” More than 25 people put in more than 250 total hours of work in the days before the school opened, painting the cafeteria a blue-gray color picked out by teachers. Local businesses donated materials, and the school district paid for the paint. Howard has also participated in other community service projects with the troop, such as Scouting for Food, a food drive done before Thanksgiving that benefits two Patterson charities, F.A.I.T.H. Food Bank of Stanislaus County Inc. and Westside Food Pantry. He and his fellow Boy Scouts also adopted a family at Christmas and provided them with a tree and gifts. His mother, Tammy Howard, said she is proud of her son. “He’s had a lot of fun,” she said. “He’s made friendships that I think will last a lifetime. I love the values that Boy Scouts has given him — the Boy Scout Oath and the Boy Scout Law — that any parent would want their child to have.” Howard started his Scouting days as a Tiger Cub and became a Boy Scout in April 2004. He has served as senior patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader, scribe and quartermaster and twice as color guard captain. Being in the color guard is something he really enjoyed. “It just looked fun for me — I just gave it a try,” Howard said. “There was no leader to do it, and someone asked, ‘Why don’t you be a leader?’” The color guard has been to a number of events around town, including the Veterans Day Ceremony in the South City Park, the Memorial Day Ceremony at Patterson District Cemetery, Scout meeting courts of honor and Eagle Scout Courts of Honor. Howard has 58 nights of camping under his belt since he joined Scouts. He also has attended Boy Scout camporees, where boys get together to work on merit badges and take part in competitions, and Scout summer camps. Howard has been to the “5 Fingers of Polaris” leadership training, where he took leadership classes and received a special scarf upon completion. Howard is a Patterson High School sophomore who likes sports and plays football and baseball and wrestles. “When I think of Ricky Howard, I think he’s a Boy Scout, but he’s a heck of a gifted athlete, too,” said Bryan Bingham, Scoutmaster of Troop 81. “Ricky is really an athlete, and he takes that seriously.” To reach Maddy Houk at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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