Managing editor
Not everyone earns the right to be called an Eagle Scout. On Saturday, Marion Boy Scouts Troop 102 added one more to the list when Cody Hiebert, 18, of Marion, was named an Eagle Scout.
Hiebert became a Cub Scout in 1997 with the local troop. From there, he participated in troop activities, earning merit badges along the way.
His community service project was collecting school supplies for children in the Oglala Sioux Tribe in Pine Ridge, S.D.
“Four boxes were set in businesses for the collection,” Hiebert said. Marion residents placed donations in the boxes.
Proceeds from a car wash paid for the shipping of the supplies, Hiebert said.
Hiebert is a senior at Marion High School and will graduate in the coming weeks. He believes being involved in Boy Scouts has helped him be better prepared for adulthood.
By emulating the Scouts’ 12 points of law, Hiebert said it has helped him to be honest and communicate better.
“Communication has been a problem for me,” he said. “Boy Scouts helped me to do better.”
The 12 points of the Boy Scouts law are to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.
Hiebert has also appreciated the friendships he has gained from the organization.
“Fellow scouts are always willing to help me when needed,” he said. “So are the leaders.”
Scoutmaster Chris Stuchlik and assistant Terry Holt lead the troop.
During the ceremony, Stuchlik said Hiebert was always willing to help and Stuchlik has always appreciated that.
Hiebert’s mother, Laura Okerlund, and his uncle, Wes Hiebert, took the stage with the scout leaders.
His mother pinned the Eagle Scout on her son and Hiebert gave his mother a special pin.
After graduation, Hiebert plans to attend Wichita Technical Institute to become an auto mechanic. He worked as part of the school’s work-study program at Webster Auto Service. That experience helped him to decide that being a mechanic was what he wanted to do.