By David Rogers. BLOWING ROCK, N.C. — It may not be often that adolescent and teenage boys — as well as grownups — will give up a sunny Saturday to get hot and sweaty doing hard, physical labor for no pay. Then again, almost all in the group helping Evan Cutlip get started on his Eagle Scout community service project have already earned their Eagle Scout badges.
At one point, there were as many as five chainsaws buzzing in the patch of real estate between the Davant Field baseball diamond and Clark Street. Cutlip and his crew cleared out overgrown sections of rhododendron and hauled off at least five truck and trailer loads of limbs and debris while leaving all of the trees standing and most of the rhododendrons.
Cutlip’s plans are for a small, cycling “pump track,” primarily for school age kids to test their mettle on their bicycles. The Eagle Scout candidate is carving out the path with small “rollers” for skilled (and skill-learning) cyclists to increase speed without pedaling and “berms” for negotiating the curves as a community service project benefiting the town’s parks and recreation activities.
For the first work day on April 1, four Eagle Scouts, one Life Scout, as well as an Eagle Scout’s wife (Evan Cutlip’s mother, Cheryl) were there to lend a hand. Evan’s father, Ron Cutlip, earned his Eagle Scout badge in 1978, as part of Troop 264 in Brookeville/Olney, Md.
“Guys who have already earned their Eagle Scout accreditation know how important this is and are usually the first in line to help a young man hoping to earn his own Eagle Scout badge. It is a big thing, so that is why you see so these local men volunteering so enthusiastically,” said the elder Cutlip.
“I am proud of Evan and what he has already accomplished in scouting,” said Cheryl Cutlip. “Because of Ron having earned his badge a long time ago and knowing what it means to him as well as other young men setting that worthwhile goal, there is nothing I would rather be doing today than rolling up my sleeves and helping my son get the job done.”
The work crew included:
- John Greene, earned his Eagle Scout badge in 2022 as part of Troop 109 (Boone)
- Ben Critcher, earned his Eagle Scout badge in 2021 as part of Troop 109 (Boone)
- Mike Brock, earned his Eagle Scout badge in 1994 as part of Troop 608 (Ventura, Calif.)
- Ron Cutlip, earned his Eagle Scout badge in 1978 as part of Troop 264 (Brookevill/Olney, Md.)
- Andrew Critcher, earned his Life Scout certification in 1989 as part of Troop 100 (Blowing Rock)
- Cheryl Cutlip
- Evan Cutlip, 2023 Eagle Scout candidate as part of Troop 109 (Boone)
