St. Charles teen to earn Eagle Scout honor at ceremony
The Eagle Scout Court of Honor ceremony for St. Charles teen Matthew Kramer will be held Sunday, Oct. 11, at St. Patrick Church in St. Charles.
Kramer is the son of Andy and Nicola Kramer and brother to Elizabeth. He began his Scouting career as a Tiger Cub at Wasco Elementary School with Pack 150. After earning the Arrow of Light award in fifth grade, he crossed over to Troop 10 and became a Boy Scout. Over the past seven years, he has moved up the ranks from Tenderfoot to Eagle. He has earned 28 badges in many different areas, including the required 13 for Eagle. He has attended Boy Scout camp in a variety of states and four Boy Scout High Adventure camps, which include backpacking in the Black Canyon, Gunnison, Colorado in 2012; sea kayaking in North Carolina in 2013; sailing a catamaran in the Bahamas from Sea Base in 2014; and backpacking 74 miles at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico in 2015.
His Eagle project at Garfield Farm Museum in Campton Hills was a multiphase project that took over 200 man hours and spanned 8 days. He had to break down and move a huge pile of concrete and rubble, clear a farm courtyard of weeds and waste, empty a 100-year-old barn of debris, dirt and machinery, clean and reorganize the contents into a manageable system, build and hang two wooden farm gates and build and hang a Dutch style barn door. All this was the groundwork for the restoration of a farm complex.
Through this project, he learned organization, leadership, budgeting and sheer hard work. He is very grateful and would like to thank all the friends, scouts and family who volunteered their time to help him at the farm with this project. He would especially like to thank Tom Greiter who was his mentor on this project and donated many hours of help.
In addition he would like to thank Jerome Johnson of Garfield Farm Museum for his assistance and two businesses that donated to the project - Lowes and Ace Hardware.
Matthew is a senior at St. Charles North High School and is currently applying to college to study computer science. While at North, he has played varsity tennis for four years and qualified to play at the state tournament in 2015. He is a member of the National Math Honor Society and has been on the soccer team, the National Science Honor Society and the chess club. He has contributed to the surrounding communities through his voluntary work and working as a soccer referee, landscaper and tennis teacher.
As Matthew moves on to the next phase of his life he is more equipped to deal with many of the challenges ahead because of those skills he has learned during his experiences in scouting. Through the dedication of the Troop and the Boy Scout organization he has learned the value of volunteerism and helping others. He is grateful for the friends he has made and the many adults who have guided, and supported him and dedicated their time to the running of the organization.
Matthew's scouting experience has spanned 12 years and has contributed in making him the kind, caring, conscientious and earnest man he is today.
To learn more about Boy Scout Troop 10, visit www.troop10info.com.