Eric Huelsman says he's relied on Boy Scouts for guidance, knowledge and companionship throughout his life.
The 16-year-old home-schooled junior suffered severe bacterial pneumonia when he was in sixth grade, but his scouting friends helped him through the illness. He said the group has also filled the social void created by his home schooling.
In striving for Eagle Scout status, the highest rank in the organization, he's given back.
Huelsman is one of 169 Southern Arizona boys to receive the honor at a celebratory dinner tonight at Hotel Arizona, 181 W. Broadway. He rounded up local businesses to help create a children's rope bridge at 4-H High Ropes Course at West Prince Road and Interstate 10 and gathered $3,000 worth of donated materials to put together a bridge and irrigation system at the facility.
Huelsman said he was driven to create the course because he noticed there was little for kids to do there. The project, which Huelsman completed in April, took several months.
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"It was very cool for me, personally, to watch the kids with big smiles on their faces playing around on it," Huelsman said. "It was something they didn't get to do there before, and being able to see them enjoy something I did personally was great."
Huelsman said that becoming an Eagle Scout is a crowning achievement.
"It's kind of surreal. It's very important to me," Huelsman said. "Anyone who ever becomes an Eagle Scout should take it very seriously because it puts you in a position of leadership. You can help and instruct all the younger Scouts in the program so hopefully they can become Eagle Scouts to help generations after that."
Joel Thibault, a 16-year-old sophomore at Canyon del Oro High School who wants to study landscape architecture in college, is also earning the Eagle Scout rank tonight. He spent countless hours cleaning and rebuilding animal pens for Foundation for Animals in Risk.
Thibault, who plans to join the Navy after college, said becoming an Eagle Scout will help him considerably in his career.
"It means a lot, because it helps me with a lot of future things," Thibault said. "It gives me different leadership skills."
Brian Goldstein, an insurance agent who earned his Eagle Scout rank in 1982 and volunteers with Boy Scouts of America, said the distinction will help the boys throughout their careers.
"I was a recruiting manager for a year or two with my company, and just knowing an applicant is an Eagle Scout, you know they can trust them with a job, and that they can finish it," he said.
Goldstein said four out of every 100 Boy Scouts eventually become Eagle Scouts.
Contact reporter Phil Villarreal at 573-4130 or pvillarreal@azstarnet.com
