The Connection

Boy Scout Troop 673, sponsored by the Great Falls United Methodist Church’s Men’s Club, celebrated the promotion of two new Eagle Scouts, Neal Kelly and Kevin Wang, on March 30.

• Neal Kelly, son of Mary and Richard Kelly, joined Troop 673 in 2012 after earning the Arrow of Light as a Cub Scout. Since joining the troop, Neal has served in the leadership positions of Patrol Leader, Instructor, Historian, and Den Chief. He earned 24 merit badges and the National Outdoor Award (for camping) Neal participated in two of Scouting’s High Adventures: Sea Base (sailing in the Florida Keys) and Northern Tier (canoeing in the Canadian wilderness).

For his Eagle Project, Neal planned, built, and installed two Little Free Libraries in the village of Great Falls. Part of an international network, Little Free Libraries are small, individually designed “boxes of books” which allow patrons to take a book or leave a book whenever they like. Neal worked closely with the Friends of Great Falls Library and Celebrate Great Falls to find appropriate locations, and then put together a team of Scouts to help design and build them. Together they installed one library on the Village Green near the Creamery, and the other in Leigh Corners near the Brightview Senior Center.

Neal is a senior at a boarding school in Montana. He has been active in athletics since his freshman year, playing soccer, lacrosse, wrestling, and basketball. Following his graduation, Neal plans to major in exercise science/athletic training in college and would like to pursue a career as a personal trainer.

• Kevin Wang, son of Weiping Chen and Xiaolin Wang, joined Troop 673 in 2012 at the end of fifth grade. Since joining the troop, Kevin has served in leadership positions of Instructor and Historian. He earned 22 merit badges and the National Outdoor Award (for camping), and he attended Boy Scout summer camp six times.

For his Eagle Project, Kevin improved a section of a trail in Scott’s Run Nature Preserve in McLean to reduce and stop erosion. To accomplish this, Kevin needed to carry out three tasks: 1) at the lower third of the trail, rocks had to be moved and shifted into the center of the trail; 2) the position of the water bars along the upper two-thirds of the trail had to be shifted; and 3) small trees needed to be planted in the upper half of the trail to act as filters to slow down running water. Kevin supervised a team of fellow Scouts and other volunteers to carry out his project.

Kevin is a senior at Langley High School where he is active in the marching and Wind Symphony bands. Kevin enjoys volunteering and helping others, and he teaches special needs students how to play instruments in the United Sound program at Langley, and teaches Sunday school lessons at McLean Bible Church. In his junior year, Kevin started doing track and field and took a liking to pole vault. That same year, he discovered a passion for history and received the Excellence Award for AP U.S. History.