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Ten receive Eagle Scout honor in Naperville

Posted December 28, 2003

It's a familiar sight to many Scouting aficionados: the pins, the speeches, the special bandanas and the teary-eyed relatives.

Saturday's ceremony at Wesley United Methodist Church in Naperville just had to be an Eagle Scout Honor Court.

Only this ritual was a bit more special than most. Make that 10 times more special.

Ten members of Troop 100 received the highest honor in Scouting during the same ceremony. They said they were grateful for the chance to celebrate together.

"If it wasn't for these guys here, I would not have gone anywhere, and this badge would not have been achieved," said Calvin Warren, one of the 10 new Eagle Scouts.

Only nine of the Scouts could be present for Saturday's ceremony. Keith Davis, a senior at Neuqua Valley High School, was at the University of Chicago Hospital.

He's had three heart surgeries, his fellow Scouts said.

The group said a special prayer for Keith at the beginning of the ceremony, and assistant troop leader Frank Suarez spoke about one of his favorite moments with Keith.

The boy was struggling with passing his swimming test at summer camp, Suarez said, so as he swam, lifeguards kept asking if he needed help. But Keith refused.

"If anyone was out there who needed help, it was Keith," Suarez said. "But he never asked for it."

At the ceremony, parents and troop leaders shared thoughts about each of the boys. They all agreed it was particularly special to have all their sons achieve this honor together.

"There was no doubt in my mind these 10 young men would be Eagle Scouts," one of the boys' fathers, David Wilson, said with tears welling up in his eyes.

The Scouts, too, had their chance to talk about their experience and thank their troop leaders and parents.

Eagle Scout Frederick Hines Jr., a freshman at Howard University in Washington, D.C., said he especially appreciated the opportunity to bond with his father through Scouting activities.

"I can't begin to describe how happy I am, being able to spend my childhood with my dad out in the woods - all cold and miserable," he said to a chorus of laughs. "It was a really fun time, though."

In addition to Davis, Warren and Hines, Matthew Gorgol, Michael Harvey, Victor Mui, Vishal Pandya, Matthew Quigley, Scott Willis and Zachary Wilson also earned the rank of Eagle Scout on Saturday.

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