An incoming Gibault Catholic High School senior recently received the highest honor in scouting on a trip to Iceland, capping off a Boy Scout career that has helped him mature and build leadership skills.

John Bollone has been busy this past year as he’s made the final push to reach the Eagle Scout rank, organizing his big service project and taking care of the handful of remaining merit badges and other requirements.

He reminisced about the overall experience in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, recalling how he was flipped upside-down as he rose to the rank of Bobcat as a kid.

Bollone also spoke about summer camp days spent at Camp Vandeventer and Camp Joy, including a particular incident his first year at the latter.

“The first year I was Boy Scouts at summer camp, we had a tornado in the middle of the summer camp, so we all had to go underneath the building, and all these scouts were coming together, playing games and everything during a tornado,” Bollone said. “A lot of fun stuff, memories that you’ll never make just by sitting at home.”

John’s mother Maggie also spoke about his time in scouts, noting how the program has allowed the family to participate in numerous activities together over the years.

Maggie also emphasized the character-building benefits scouting has afforded her son.

“Scouts has actually allowed John opportunities to grow as a person and develop his leadership skills,” Maggie said. “We watched his confidence grow by having to lead other boys in their activities.”

Often the largest hurdle for young men pursuing the rank of Eagle Scout is the organizing and management of a community service project.

John completed his project just earlier this year, going along Main Street in town and fixing poles and mounts which hold flags.

“Fixing the ones that needed to be fixed and then replacing the ones that were completely broken beyond repair,” John said. “Retiring flags that need to be retired. Going through each and every flag pretty much and going through which ones are good, which ones are bad.”

He recalled getting the idea for his project from an older scout who wound up foregoing it. With his dad being a veteran, John said it seemed to be a good fit for him.

While he did encounter some difficulty during the project in communicating with the city and getting folks to come out, he noted the pride he felt as the project came together.

“It was very satisfying to know that I did everything up to that point and getting this final project done, getting my Eagle,” John said.

He also spoke about some of the later additions to his merit badge collection. Personal management was particularly involved given it requires the scout to organize a budget for several weeks. Citizenship in society seemed to be interesting for him as he recalled learning more about the broad importance of community.

While earning his Eagle Scout was a major accomplishment, John took an extra step by officially receiving it on a trip to Iceland.

He said the idea came as his troop goes on big adventure trips every two years, the last one being a visit to Hawaii.

As his scoutmaster began discussing the possibility of a trip to Iceland and the many neat things folks look to do in the Arctic Circle, John came to think that such a major trip would help encourage him to buckle down and wrap up his Eagle requirements.

“We were there for 10 days, camping every night and going all around Iceland,” John said. “A few months ago, I was getting close to my Eagle stuff and trying to find the motivation to get stuff done… One meeting, our scoutmaster was telling us about how people go to the Arctic Circle… It hit me, ‘What if I got my Eagle Scout presented to me in the Arctic Circle?’”

John expressed tremendous satisfaction with the completion of his Eagle Scout, as did Maggie.

“It was something that he wanted to do, but then he would get very frustrated and realize how much work and how much effort had to go into that accomplishment,” Maggie said. “I think having people behind you, helping you through the process and pushing you to that next level really helped, watching him face those hurdles head-on.”

John also voiced his thanks to the myriad of people who helped him along the way to his Eagle Scout rank, including his scout master and the members of the community who set up his Eagle Scout board of review — particularly noting former Immaculate Conception School Principal Mike Kish, who stepped in for the board at the last minute.

Special thanks also went to Maggie.

“I don’t think I would have this project done or even near Eagle Scout by this time if it wasn’t for my mom pushing me the whole way,” John said. “Even when I first started scouts, she pushed me to my first class and my first year being in Boy Scouts, just getting to the next rank, getting all these merit badges done, going to summer camp.”