Family, friends and fellow Boy Scouts from Troop 118 joined together at the Second Avenue Baptist Church Saturday to celebrate Ben Peek’s rise to the rank of Eagle Scout.
Peek earned 26 merit badges along the way to achieving the rank, including the Boy Scouts of America lifeguard badge, one he was especially proud of earning.
A senior at Model High School, Peek hopes to attend either the University of Georgia or Berry College to possibly pursue a business degree.
The son of Carlton and Lynn Peek, he has been a Boy Scout for the past six years and held the positions of scribe, librarian, quartermaster, assistant patrol leader and senior patrol leader in Troop 118 over the years.
He said Saturday before the ceremony he was proud to have made it through because, he noted, that “less than 2 percent of Boy Scouts reach this honor.”
“It was an excellent five to six years of doing really cool stuff,” he said.
Peek said his advice to his fellow Scouts is to “try and get everything done early, and don’t procrastinate when it comes to doing projects.”
He added that Scouts would do best if they “try to have fun and enjoy it. Don’t just rush through the experience of being in Scouts.”
Peek’s Eagle Scout project included building and installing four new wooden benches, four metal benches, a permanent trash can and new doors to enter the tennis courts at Model High School.
His brother Patrick Peek, who is also an Eagle Scout who rose to the rank in 1999, was also present during the ceremony Saturday afternoon.
