Mitchell Aase, a Scout in DeKalb’s Troop 33, recently earned the Eagle Scout Award. He set his goals high and worked very hard to accomplish that task.
Eagle Scout is the highest advancement award presented by the Boy Scouts of America. Each year only about 4 percent of all Scouts earn the award. To become an Eagle Scout, a candidate must earn a minimum of 21 merit badges, serve his troop in a leadership position and conduct an extensive Eagle Service Project that helps the community.
Mitchell Aase is a student at Sycamore High School. He first became involved in DeKalb’s Boy Scout Troop 33 at age 11. He earned 43 merit badges and served Troop 33 as patrol leader, quartermaster, assistant senior patrol leader and junior assistant Scoutmaster.
His Eagle project involved a landscaping project at First Lutheran Church in DeKalb. He organized a crew of workers to remove unwanted shrubs, planting new memorial bushes along the north side of the church. He also reconstructed a drainage system on the west side of the church. Through his efforts the grounds of the church are greatly enhanced.
His involvement in outdoor adventure has taken him through 18 states plus the District of Columbia, traveling more than 13,000 miles across the United States. He began with summer camp at Camp Lowden near Oregon, Ill. As he became older and more experienced, he became active in various high adventure programs with Troop 33.
Winter activities included Klondike Derbies, hiking canyons to frozen waterfalls, ice boating on Lake Geneva, hiking on a frozen Lake Superior to ice caves, and driving a dog sled through the north woods.
He spent his 2005 Christmas vacation working with Troop 33’s project to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina in Pass Christian, Miss., and New Orleans. He returned in April 2006 to spend his Easter vacation doing more hurricane relief work.
In 2007, he participated in a high adventure trip bicycling across the outer banks of the Carolinas. He and his fellow Scouts biked across islands, taking ferry boats to the next islands to continue biking. After the bicycling portion was complete, the remaining days of the trip were spent touring Washington, D.C.
He spent his 2008 Christmas vacation with Troop 33 working in Galveston, Texas, where they helped victims recovering from the damage of Hurricane Ike. He returned to Galveston again in March 2009 during his spring break. With fellow Scouts he worked on various projects to remove debris, strip buildings, and worked on a historic building downtown and a community park.
Throughout Aase’s many years of Scouting, his leaders said he always did his best. He learned about citizenship and strong ideals. Scouting helped him grow, while encouraging his strengths and challenging him with exciting new adventures and experiences.
