Three scouts from Princeton Boy Scouts Troop 1063 earn Eagle rank together

PRINCETON — Princeton Boy Scouts Troop 1063 has had a unique year as three of its members all earned their Eagle badge on the same day last December.

The good news officially came on Dec. 28 that Peter Campbell and Owen Espel, both of Princeton, and Andrew Bartolucci of Tiskilwa would all be recognized as members of the highest rank possible in Boy Scouts.

The three scouts have stuck with the organization since they were just 6-year-old Cub Scouts, all Tiger rank, starting out in October 2009. Not only is it rare that three scouts remained in the club together for 12 years, but to also make it through the requirements of Eagle rank together is even more exceptional.

Troop 1063 Scoutmaster Jeremy Whitfield, who has been with the troop since 2016, explained there’s only a 4% chance of a scout making it to Eagle, but to have three guys do it in the same year, it’s almost unheard of these days.

He has watched the guys grow from quiet teens to young community leaders, now all 18, ready to graduate from high school (Espel attends St. Bede Academy and Bartolucci and Campbell attend Princeton High School) and move on to college.

“When I first joined, they were fairly quiet as young teens typically are, but to see these guys grow and get the experiences they’ve gotten and really grow up themselves personally, they’ve really come a long way and opened up a lot. Personally, I’m thrilled they all were able to make Eagle,” he said.

Whitfield explained how becoming an Eagle requires scouts to earn 21 merit badges, work up the ranks of scouting, which all require in-depth commitments and a lot of time and dedication. A scout then must take on a service project where they line up materials and lead a group of volunteers to accomplish a tangible item meant to benefit the community.

The three service projects that came out of these guys: Campbell built a sandbox table for Happy Hands Preschool, Espel built a fire pit and log holder on the grounds of St. Bede and refurbished old benches around the pit, and Bartolucci installed fencing along the outfield of the baseball diamond in Tiskilwa, made improvements on the dugouts and planted shade trees around the field.

It takes a lot of willingness to put in the time for Boy Scouts, and around the age of 16 when high school life, which includes college prep, homework, after-school jobs and extra curricular, plus the social life that begins to fill a teen’s life — sticking with it and knowing how to balance the time is a challenge in itself that all three guys figured out how to do.

So, why did they do it? Espel said by the time he turned 16 years old, he took a look back at all the time and effort he’d put into the organization and realized he didn’t want to throw it all away.

“Years of camping and doing all the merit badges and requirements and then just to stop — there wouldn’t have been that satisfaction if I didn’t get Eagle,” he said.

Bartolucci added that it had also been a few years since the troop had an Eagle come out of it, so it was rewarding to be able to close the gap on that time.

Plus, Campbell said the leaders and the friendships built with other members of the troop always made it easy to stick with it.

The guys have years worth of memories to look back on as they move on to the next chapter in life. From countless camping trips — from Arkansas to Canada and places in between — to learning new skills — such as reading a compass, correctly building a fire, pitching a tent, cooking over a fire, steering a kayak or leading a group of people — to just the camaraderie that comes with seeing one another at meetings — one can say these three are bonded for life from this journey.

They’ve overcome challenges and invaluable life lesson not every kid gets the opportunity to do and they’ve done it all together.

“It was really fun and I encourage other boys to do it,” Espel said.

Although they plan to go their separate ways in college — Espel is moving to Big Rapids, Mich., where he will attend Ferris State University and study construction management, Bartolucci will study conservation at Illinois Valley Community College and Campbell will study diesel mechanics at Illinois Central College — they won’t forget one another as life goes on.

They may go years without seeing one other, but they will always share a connection.