Four brothers. Four Eagle Scouts. One extraordinary accomplishment.

At a ceremony Dec. 30, Whitefish parents Kurt and Julie Reimer watched their youngest son Michael become an Eagle Scout, the highest rank attainable with the Boy Scouts of America.

It was the fourth time they’d witnessed the accomplishment. Michael’s three older brothers, Daniel, David and Jonathan, also are Eagle Scouts.

It’s a rare feat indeed, according to Jim Ramlow, one of the assistant scoutmasters for Troop 17, especially since just 5 percent of those who start in the Boy Scouting program finish with the rank of Eagle Scout.

“The key is their parents were deeply and directly involved,” Ramlow said. “They’ve got their parents backing them up. Kurt has been out in some extreme situations with the boys.”

Kurt said he made a vow early on that he wouldn’t be a “drop-off dad,” that he would go the distance with his boys. And he has.

“I was begging heaven for help: How do I raise these kids?” he recalled. “I prayed for wisdom. All of this is God’s redemption to a family.”

More than a decade ago, Kurt and Joe Coco began talking about starting a troop, so they and Rod Samdahl reactivated Troop 17, which had been active in earlier decades. Kurt led the younger Cub Scouts, while Coco was scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts those first years.

The Reimers’ oldest son, Daniel, was the first scout in the revived troop to attain Eagle rank. Since then a total of 19 scouts have achieved that highest rank.

At the Dec. 30 ceremony at the Whitefish Church of the Nazarene, where Troop 17 is based, Kurt said it was emotionally overwhelming.

“A father couldn’t be more proud,” he said.

The boys’ mother, Julie, shared that pride.

“I’ve seen the blessings and the benefits it’s given my kids,” she said.

Keeping all four sons on task and focused on scouting wasn’t always easy.

“Along the way, at some point they all wanted to quit,” she said. “There were times we had to push. At the end, with [attaining] the Eagle Scout rank, it was their decision to finish.”

As a mother, it tugged at her heart when the boys would head out for camping trips in the most extreme winter weather conditions.

To reach the rank of Eagle Scout, a Boy Scout must earn a minimum of 21 merit badges and demonstrate scout spirit and leadership. He must plan, develop and lead a service project and complete an outside board of review, in this area with the Northwest Montana District Board of Review.

During his Eagle Court of Honor ceremony, Michael noted that the value in being an Eagle Scout “is not in the recognition or the ability to put the title on a job application.

“It is in the undertaking, the journey that holds the true worth,” he said.

Michael, 17, undertook the expansion of the playground at Growing in God’s Love Child Care and Preschool at the Whitefish Church of the Nazarene as his Eagle Scout project, expanding on a project his brother David had completed years earlier for his Eagle Scout project. Michael and his crew spent 281.6 hours on the project.

A junior at Whitefish High School, Michael is the student body president-elect for his senior year. He plays trumpet and was selected for the All-State choir.

When it came time to join scouts, it didn’t take any contemplation, he said. It was a family tradition. During his Eagle Scout speech Michael credited his scoutmasters and noted his parents’ “unwavering support.”

“They were the ones who were strong and not lax about discipline, making me sharp and making me do the hard things,” he said. “They were the ones who wouldn’t let me quit when I was determined to. ... They deserve a huge amount of recognition as a major part to the success of my accomplishment.”

Jonathan, 19, is a freshman at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho, the alma mater of his parents and two older brothers. And like his brothers, he’s studying business.

He’s also in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, a college-based, officer commissioning program, and will serve as an officer in the Army after college.

Jonathan’s Eagle Scout project was helping develop the first phase of the Great Northern Veterans Peace Park in Whitefish, where he and his crew cleared brush and put up fences, among other things.

“There are countless lessons I learned,” he said about being a Boy Scout. “You learn a lot of valuable things when you’re working in adversity.”

He’s been able to use his leadership skills through ROTC, helping fellow students learn responsibility and organizational skills during the semi-annual training sessions.

David, 23, graduated from Northwest Nazarene University with a degree in business management last May. He turned down a couple of fairly lucrative job offers to take a job as the worship arts director at the Nazarene church in Eagle, Idaho.

“Life is best when we’re doing what God wants us to do,” he said. “In this season in life, it’s where I’m supposed to be. I wanted to get involved in ministry full time; this is my jumping in.”

David said he applies his scouting skills on a daily basis, especially the leadership training he received.

“Many adults don’t experience the rigorous opportunities we had, the character-building,” he observed, relating how learning survival skills after crawling out of a snow cave in 30-below weather was a “tangible real-life experience.”

Scouting wasn’t always “the cool thing to do” as a youth, he said, but with age he sees the value.

Daniel, 25, also is using his scouting skills to the maximum as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army, serving in Afghanistan. He was on a short leave over the New Year’s holiday and will head back to Afghanistan for another four months before returning to Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska.

As a platoon leader in charge of 28 fellow troops, he’s further developing his leadership skills as they train members of the Afghan Army and police force to operate without as much support from the U.S. Army. Working through an interpreter, it’s a challenging job, but he’s encouraged by the progress he’s witnessed.

A 2005 Whitefish High School graduate, Daniel refurbished a small park on Whitefish Lake as his Eagle Scout project.

Scouting “set me up for success big time,” he said.

Daniel said he’s been able to help his fellow troops learn life skills such as money management.

It’s not only scouting that has united the Reimer family, but also their Christian faith and musical abilities.

The brothers sing and play guitar; all were in band. Kurt plays guitar and trumpet; Julie is an accomplished pianist and vocalist. They perform as a family at the Nazarene church whenever the opportunity arises.

During Michael’s Court of Honor ceremony, Kurt read the poem “If,” by Rudyard Kipling, which Julie had taught her youngest son. It eloquently sums up what they’ve striven to teach their sons.

The last verse especially points to what they wish for each of their sons:

“If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings — nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And — which is more — you’ll be a man, my son!”

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.