Troop 40: Barry attains Eagle Scout rank
By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
Jan. 28, 2003
Monday night was emotional for John Merritt Barry, and his family and friends. It was the night the 15-year-old ninth-grader from Northwest Junior High School achieved Scouting's highest rank Eagle Scout.
The ceremony was also tearful for the adults who participated his parents and scout leaders.
A candle-lighting ceremony symbolized Barry's journey through Scouting over the years and his parents, Cheri and Rick Barry, participated in a pinning ceremony.
Afterward, Merritt said a lot had changed for him since he had become an Eagle Scout, both in his heart and his mind.
Merritt is the first Eagle Scout to come out of Troop 40 in Meridian since it was reactivated in the spring of 2001, said Al McElroy, troop committee chairman. The troop is chartered through Poplar Springs Baptist Church.
Merritt completed his qualifications to become an Eagle Scout on Oct. 31, 2002, when he finished building a handicap-accessible ramp for the front entrance of the American Red Cross Key Chapter on 24th Avenue, where his mother is executive director.
Merritt's mother, and father, a local attorney, praised the leadership within Merritt's Boy Scout troop.
Cheri Barry said, "It's an honor to have another Eagle Scout in our family. It is a real important step in growing up and learning about life."
Merritt's paternal grandmother, Tommye Lue Barry of Quitman, was also proud. She came to the ceremony wearing the three Eagle pins her sons Rick, Bill and Lou had pinned on her in Eagle Court of Honor Ceremonies during the 1960s and early 1970s.
Andrew Havron, 15, a 10th-grader at Northwest Junior High School, spoke during the ceremony. Havron, a Scout in Meridian's Troop 9, chartered through Highland Baptist Church, earned his Eagle Scout rank in June 2001, with a landscaping project at his school.
Merritt said he shared Havron's thoughts.
DID YOU KNOW?
Of the 293 U.S. astronauts, more than 170 were involved in Scouting; 37 were Eagle Scouts.
About 36 percent of West Point cadets were involved in Scouting; 10 percent were Eagle Scouts.
About 28 percent of Air Force Academy cadets were involved in Scouting as youth; nearly 10 percent were Eagle Scouts.
Only about 2 percent of all Scouts earn the Eagle Scout award.
Famous Eagle Scouts include: Neil Armstrong, astronaut, first man on moon, from Wapakoneta, Ohio; Gerald Ford, who was a member of Troop 15, Grand Rapids, Mich.; and movie producer Steven Spielberg of Scottsdale, Ariz. Spielberg earned his photography merit badge by making a movie of his troop and later helped develop the requirements for the cinematography merit badge.
