GREAT FALLS — The Great Falls Rotary Club hosted its 28th annual Bill Harp Memorial Eagle and Gold Scout Recognition Luncheon at the Meadowlark Country Club on Tuesday, April 2, 2024.
At the luncheon, ten Scouts who earned their BSA Eagle Rank or the Girl Scout’s Gold Award in 2023 were honored. In order to achieve this rank, each Scout completed a community service project. The combined service hours of the Scouts totaled 2,162.50 hours.
Lexi Banks of BSA Troop 1007G earned her Eagle Rank by creating care packages for children being taken into foster care.
Banks explained that she packed “backpacks and blankets and toiletries, so toothbrush, toothpaste, teddy bear to make them feel comfortable so they had something in a foreign place that was their own."
When speaking of being part of the BSA, Banks said, “It's really fun and really rewarding to help the community to kind of see the effect on the community, and that we get recognized for those effects."
The luncheon also honors community leader Bill Harp, who passed away in 2021. Harp designed the event and began organizing it in 1995.
Here is the list of Scout honorees at the luncheon:
John Pinski, BSA Troop 1001B
Project: Birdhouses for Anaconda Golf Course
Lexi Banks, BSA Troop 1007G
Project: Creating bags for children taken into foster care
Sherman Banks, BSA Troop 1007B
Project: Creating and installing fishing line recycling stations for Giant Springs State Park
Kalley May, Girl Scouts of the United States of America Troop 3549
Project: Upgraded and repaired the Mihelish Field/Ramey Park youth softball fields
Shai Simpson, BSA Troop 1110G
Project: Repainted the Pavilion at Lions Park
Carson Polacek, BSA Troop 1014B
Project: Reconstructed a new fence for Holy Spirit Catholic Church's Priest' Father Doug Krings' home
James Tilman, BSA Troop 10001B
Project: completed a boardwalk around the perimeter of the playground and refinished a “Kids Kabin” at the playground at the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind
Lilli Light, BSA Troop 1110G
Project: Rebuilding horseshoe pit backboards at Elks Riverside Park
Blake Leardini, BSA Troop 1004B
Project: Ulm Cemetery Entrance Gate Entrance Gate Replacement
Tristen Short, BSA Troop 1001B
Project: A picnic area at the old pet cemetery in Great Falls