John David of Polson and Nick Snyder of Ronan claimed their Eagle Scout medals during an Eagle Scout Court of Honor held Nov. 5 at the Boys and Girls Club in Ronan.

Both boys are members of Polson-based Troop 1947, led by Scoutmaster Sheri Connors-David.

Attaining the rank of Eagle Scout – the highest rank a Scout member can achieve – requires “a lot of hard work and, for that matter, a lot of fun,” says John David. “How much fun depends on how you do it, what you make of it.”

Snyder, a junior at Ronan High, agrees. “It’s better to take the long way and have fun,” he says. “If you take the short way, you don’t learn much of anything.”

Eagle Scouts are required to complete hundreds of requirements, ranging from emergency first aid and CPR to camping and leadership skills. They have to earn 21 merit badges, complete a community service project, serve as a leader within their troop, and put together a final binder the chronicles their progress, all before they turn 18.

Snyder built a mini food pantry at the Ronan Bread Basket for his community-service project. The large rectangular wooden box, affixed to a post outside the pantry, offers emergency food supplies “so when the pantry is closed folks can go get food from there.” Food donations are welcome, he adds.

Snyder was inspired by a picture he saw online of an emergency pantry someone built outside their house. “I thought it was a cool idea,” he says. Although fundraising was hard, “I really liked building and painting it.”

David’s project entailed hanging flags along Main Street in Polson at each intersection from Hwy. 93 to Sixth Ave.

“Hanging flags isn’t new in itself,” he says. “We used to do it in years past but the flags we had were all old and needed to be replaced.”

It cost about $800 to buy 16 new flags and poles, which were then affixed to brackets on street lamps at each corner. To raise money for the project, he went door to door to Main Street businesses.

Both boys joined Cub Scouts in first grade. David, who turns 18 in December and graduates from Polson High next spring, says his involvement with Scouting won’t end on his birthday. “I plan to stick around, come to weekly meetings, and stay on as a committee member or assistant leader until I go to college,” he said.

His long commitment to Scouts stems in part from “a good amount of pushing from my grandma” (the scoutmaster), the friendships he’s developed and opportunities “to go camping and just have fun.”

Snyder has enjoyed making friends and participating in annual fundraisers. He and his brother sold $5,000 worth of popcorn this year, mostly by going door to door, and has found that people in his hometown are “super supportive.”