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Adam Erdman, Ethan Herberg, Shawn Bluhm and Tyler Waddell were presented with the highest achievement award the Boys Scouts of America offers to Scouts, the Eagle Scout Award. The awards were presented Sunday, March 22 at St. Bridget of Sweden Catholic Church. In a surprise presentation, Ian Brown was also presented with the Eagle badge he earned over eight years ago. All of the scouts are current or former members of Troop 135, Center City.

Erdman, Herberg, Bluhm and Waddell thanked, among others, their scout leaders Bruce Carlsted, Rollie Westman, Craig Heggerston and Eric Engstrom for their support and guidance in earning the award.

In order to achieve the award, Eagle candidates must earn 21 merit badges, successfully complete a service project related to their community or place of worship and pass a board of review by their eighteenth birthday. For his Eagle project, Erdman renovated Center City's Triangle Park; Herberg cleared brush, installed new posts and removed the old fence line in the Franconia Cemetery; Bluhm assembled and installed signs for Lindstrom-area parks and painted local fire hydrants; Waddell landscaped the area surrounding the new timber frame pedestrian bridge located on the Taylors Falls Riverwalk and Brown refurbished the trail system at the Bryant Woods Environmental School Laboratory, west of Taylors Falls.

Eight years ago, Brown completed all the requirements to earn his Eagle award except for the board of review. He joined the Air Force and headed out for basic training. He passed the board of review when he came home on leave after finishing basic training, then headed to his Air Force assignment before an Eagle ceremony could be arranged. Brown's parents, Jack and Sue Brown of Taylors Falls, worked together with Scoutmaster Bruce Carlsted and others to make sure Ian Brown attended the ceremony last Sunday to accept his surprise award.

Brown had originally declined to receive his award on Sunday because he didn't want to take the spotlight away from the younger Scouts who received the award. But the crowd of friends and relatives of all the scouts were clearly touched that Brown finally received the award he earned eight years ago before he went to serve his country in Bahrain and Pakistan. Brown currently manages an Arby's restaurant in Stillwater.

The other four Scouts are members of St. Bridget of Sweden Catholic Church. Erdman graduated from Chisago Lakes High School in 2006 and currently attends Anoka-Ramsey Community College, Cambridge Campus. The son of Joe and Kristy Erdman, Adam's brother Jeremy previously received the Eagle award.

Herberg, Bluhm and Waddell are juniors at Chisago Lakes High School. Herberg is the son of Wes and Sheryl Herberg; Herberg's brother Adam also received the Eagle award several years ago. Bluhm is the son of Kirk and Roxanne Bluhm, and Waddell is the son of Steve and Chris Waddell.

Eagle Scout Hunter Heggerston was awarded a Gold Palm, signifying he has earned ten additional merit badges beyond what is required to make Eagle. Heggerston's father Craig Heggerston, one of the adult leaders of Troop 135, is currently serving his country in Iraq as a member of the 834th Aviation Support Battalion.

The scouts join other Americans who have become Eagle Scouts, including former President Gerald Ford, astronaut Neil Armstrong, software mogul Bill Gates and movie producer Steven Spielberg. Nationally, only about five percent of all Boy Scouts ever attain the rank of Eagle.

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