Connor Calhoun, a member of Boy Scout Troop 342 of Statesboro, recently earned the rank of Eagle Scout. He received the highest award in Scouting during a ceremony at Statesboro Primitive Baptist Church on April 24.

The son of Todd and Ashley Powell Manack of Statesboro, Connor is a sophomore at Statesboro High School, where he is a member of the Beta Club, takes Advanced Placement classes and plays soccer. He is an active member of the youth program at Statesboro First United Methodist Church and has participated in local mission projects, helped with the soup kitchen and attended Snowbird Wilderness Camp. He also serves as an acolyte and volunteers with the children's ministry during Vacation Bible School.

Connor began his Scouting career in 2102 with Troop 342, for which Statesboro Primitive Baptist Church has held the charter for more than 50 years. Since joining, he has camped 71 nights, hiked 127 miles, canoed 100 miles and earned more than 100 hours of service, plus 75 through his Eagle project. He also was elected by his troop to take part in the Order of the Arrow and is a member of the Ordeal.

Connor has spent the past four summers attending camps with his troop. For his first Scout camp, he spent a week at Skymont in Tennessee, where began his journey to completing his merit badge requirements for becoming an Eagle Scout.

The troop, led by Scoutmaster Lovett Bennett, gives its Scouts an opportunity to go to all four of the Boy Scouts of America's High Adventure bases. The first of Connor's adventures came when he sailed on a boat for a week at the Florida Sea Base in Key West in 2013. The trek, called Sea Exploring, is an eight-day excursion throughout the Florida Keys.

In the summer of 2014, the troop went to Cimarron, New Mexico, for an 11-day trek, where Connor and his troop hiked 80 miles in the backcountry of Philmont Scout Ranch, considered the Boy Scouts' premier High Adventure base.

The troop's next summer was spent at the Canadian border in Ely, Minnesota, called Northern Tier, the Boy Scouts' gateway to adventure in the Great Northwoods. Every summer, Scouts from Northern Tier's three wilderness canoe bases explore millions of acres of pristine lakes, meandering rivers, dense forests and wetlands in northern Minnesota, northwest Ontario and northeast Manitoba. In addition to canoeing about 80 miles in the boundary waters, Connor served as crew leader on this trek.

By completing the third High Adventure program, Connor earned the Charles L. Sommers Alumni Association Triple Crown Award, which is used both to promote High Adventure programs and to help identify those Scouts with a thirst for adventure who may be interested in serving on the staff at any of the Boy Scouts' High Adventure bases.

This summer, Connor will take another trip to the Florida Sea Base with his troop and will return to New Mexico to participate in the Rayado Trek at Philmont Scout Ranch, a trek reserved for the most physically fit and more adventure-seeking Scouts who want to grow their leadership and group skills. Requiring a letter of reference from someone who knows the Scout, Bennett helped Connor secure a spot in the coveted program, which lasts for 21 days in the highest backcountry within the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. All other details of the trek are kept secret, which further encourages participating Scouts to develop their skills under unknown physical and mental circumstances.

For his Eagle project, Connor created a bluebird trail for the residents of Willow Pond Senior Care in Statesboro. His grandfather, M.R. Powell, and other Scouts helped with building, planning and implementing the project.

He chose a project to help promote nesting sites because of the declining number of bluebirds, and he chose Willow Pond as the site because he knew residents would remember seeing bluebirds as children. He later returned to Willow Pond to give a presentation on caring for and managing the birdhouses.

"Scouting has been a great experience for me," Connor said. "I want to thank all the leaders in Troop 342 for helping me achieve the rank of Eagle Scout. It would not have been possible without them. I'm thankful to be part of a healthy and active troop that has taught me the skills to be a productive member of our community and country."