COURT OF HONOR HELD FOR

Kevin Weeks, Eagle Scout

A Court of Honor was held for Eagle Scout, Kevin Weeks on Sunday October 21, 2007 at the Teledyne Science Center with over 100 family and friends present. This is unique because Kevin now joins his two older brothers Ryan and Gary Weeks who are Eagle Scouts. Kevin is a member of BSA Troop 754 which is sponsored by Thousand Oaks Elks Lodge #2477 and is the 42nd Eagle to fly from this Troop. Kevin is the Son of Don and Vicki Weeks.

Presentations were made by:

Thousand Oaks Council member Tom Glancy. Commendation from the City of Thousand Oaks. Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from the United States House of Representatives, Elton Gallegly, Congressman. Presentation of the Flag of the United States of America flown over the United States Capitol as presented by the honorable Elton Gallegly, Thousand Oaks Elks Lodge #2477. An Eagle Scout Certificate of Merit, plaque and American Flag was presented by Greg Metzgus, former scoutmaster of BSA Troop 754, and California-Hawaii Elks State Vice President, West Central Coast District from Thousand Oaks Elks Lodge #2477, and Eagle Scout neckerchief from Bart Vanderlip.

Kevin also received letters of recognition and encouragement from President George W. Bush as well as former Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, plus many other dignitaries. You'll find them on display in the lobby.

Kevin began his trail to Eagle as a Tiger Cub Scout in the first grade. He was a member of Den 3 and then the Redtail Hawks as a webelos. Some of the activities that he enjoyed were the pinewood and space derby and raingutter regattas, cake auctions, Halloween events, blue and gold dinners, skits and songs, day camp and Webelos camp at Cachuma, shooting bow and arrows. He spent 4 1/2 years in the Cub Scout program and earned the prestigious Arrow of Light...Cub Scouts' highest award.

To become an Eagle Scout, Kevin spent 7 years in the Scouting program as a Boy Scout and earned 29 merit badges. During his time as a Boy Scout, he has served his Troop in a variety of leadership roles including, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, Instructor, Chaplain's Aide, Troop Guide, and Patrol Leader.

His experiences include 4 week-long Sierra Back packing trips. He earned the Paul Bunyan Award on his first Sierra trip in 2001, and brought an inflatable raft up for his final sierra trip last summer. He also attended 5 Colorado River Canoe trips both at Black Canyon where we visited sauna caves and waterfalls and Boy Scout canyon and Park Moabi where we would cliff dive and have swamped canoe races. He attended rock climbing at Joshua tree where one year they were awakened with snow collapsing the tents. Tall Ship Sailing to Catalina was a highlight, including the swimming with sharks and jumping off the rigging, and a turn steering the boat. He attended several Summer camps including Emerald Bay on Catalina Island where he competed in the aquacade competition, Camp Whittsett, Camp Kern last summer where he held the summer record for the summit run. Also there were many Camporees, Bike trips, Rifle shooting and many weekend camping trips.

He has spent 94 nights camping and hiked a total of 213 miles as a Boy Scout.

A large part of scouting also includes community service activities. Among the events Kevin has participated in are: helping as a volunteer with numerous Eagle projects, many flag retirement ceremonies, and numerous Scouting for Food drives, to name a few. He accumulated 61 community service hours NOT including his own Eagle Project.

Kevin completed his Eagle Scout Service Project last summer, which benefitted the Conejo Parks and Recreation District. He designed and built inserts for the Doggie Bag containers so that the new style bags could be placed inside the receptacles. He and his volunteers cut, nailed, sanded and painted 100 wood "H-shaped" inserts and delivered them to 78 park locations throughout the Conejo Valley, from Oak Park to Dos Vientos. Kevin's project included 15 scouts, youth and adults working a total of 115 volunteer hours over 2 separate work days in June 2006. Funding for his project was provided by Home Depot's generous donation of wood, nails, and paint. Kevin sends a special "Thank you" to all who volunteered their time on his Project during June 2006.