Illinois Valley Times

The Boy Scouts of America features approximately 2.4 million members nationwide, but only 4 percent of its members manage to achieve the highest honor in scouting: the rank of Eagle Scout.

LaSalle-Peru High School's Tanner Glynn is one of those elite scouts.

Glynn officially was named an Eagle Scout at a recent ceremony at VFW Post 4668 in LaSalle, a culmination of many years of hard work for the teen. Glynn has been involved with the scouting program since his Cub Scout days in first grade.

As the 4 percent figure suggests, it wasn't a simple journey for Glynn to make it all the way to Eagle Scout from his days as a Cub.

"The basic requirements for becoming an Eagle Scout is to earn 21 merit badges," Dan Williams, who has been the Troop 20 scout master and Glynn's mentor for the last three years, recently told the Illinois Valley Times. "Out of those 21 merit badges, 13 of them have to be national. Some of those include first aid, camping, and three different citizenship badges -- community, nation and world. There's also emergency preparedness. The other eight are chosen from a list of 140 other merit badges to pick as your optional eight."

In addition to earning his badges, Glynn also was required to hold a leadership position in the troop for a minimum of six months, which Glynn fulfilled by earning patrol leader and later on senior patrol leader status within the troop prior to being named a full Eagle Scout. Those positions involve leading the younger members of the troop on outings, which include planning hiking and camping trips for the entire group.

Glynn also was a scribe, meaning he took roll call at the beginning of every meeting and was responsible for notes and minutes during the full meeting. Glynn also was particularly active in his community, one of the requirements to achieve his community citizen badge.

"He helped out on a couple of other local Eagle Scout projects," Williams said. "One was to paint the VFW hall and trim work for one of our other Eagles. He also helped do bat houses out at Rotary Park and also planted trees at Rotary Park. He also helped landscape the Utica City Hall in downtown Utica."

Glynn also was required to complete his own local project, which consisted of planning and completing an exhibit for the Rotary Park holiday display, which included 52 snowflakes (36 small and 16 large) along with a 12-foot-tall snowman, candy canes and lollipops, which became part of the "Celebration of Lights" display in the park during the holiday season. 

Glynn's development has been a pleasure to watch for his mentor, who has cited Glynn's growth as one of the aspects he's most proud of watching.

"He has just generally matured," Williams said. "I think he's become a better leader. Early on, when he was in the troop, he was not as aware of everything. Now he's fully aware, he thinks on his own and plans things further ahead than what he used to. He's matured not only as a person, but as a scout also. He helps some of the other youth with their basic scout skills."

Moving forward, Glynn would like to use some of the skills he's obtained in the scouts to become a machinist, which is his goal when he's ready to pursue a profession. Glynn also is looking to become involved with a mentor program, another skill he sharpened while in the scouts. Like many scouts in the area, Troop 20 has been an essential component of his development as a young man.

"Our troop was chartered in 1960, so we're 56 years old," Williams said. "We're the oldest troop in the Illinois Valley, and Tanner is our 60th Eagle Scout in our troop. Our kids work really hard; our leaders work really hard with them. It's a testament to both our leaders and to our kids."