GRANITE CITY – After earning several merit badges, learning life skills, and completing a community project, Boy Scout Caleb Donaldson became an Eagle Scout on Oct. 9, 2014. For a decade, despite his father’s best efforts, the story never made the news – until now.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of Caleb earning his Eagle Scout title and badge. It’s a story his father, Matthew, is still proud to tell today – and one we at Riverbender.com are proud to share.
Boy Scouts: A Positive Influence
Matthew, who was involved with the Boy Scouts of America himself, said the experience has also benefited both of his sons as they’ve become young adults.
“Without a doubt, Boy Scouts really shaped him – kept him away from drugs and drinking,” he said of Caleb. “Going and doing camp every year, every time he went to camp, he learned new things, worked on new badges … it made both of my sons just great adults.
“I’m extremely proud, absolutely,” Matthew said of his sons. “I’m so grateful that I got my sons involved in Boy Scouts.”
Caleb’s older brother, Cameron, was one of the founding members of Boy Scout Pact 122 at his Granite City grade school. While raising both boys as a single father, Matthew served as the pact’s Committee Chairman for eight years.
He recalled Caleb following in his older brother’s footsteps, rising through the ranks from Lion Cub to leading an accomplished Boy Scouts career. Caleb was a member of Boy Scout Troop 103, based at Holy Family Church in Granite City.
The Road To Eagle Scout
Before becoming an Eagle Scout, one must earn at least 21 merit badges – Caleb earned each of these and more while never missing a meeting, making his dedication to the role clear. He went on to serve as the Senior Patrol Leader and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader among various other offices in his Boy Scout Troop.
Among Caleb’s many other accomplishments are earning the Order of the Arrow and Friendship awards. Matthew explained that the Order of the Arrow is a special honor decided by a unanimous vote from each of one’s fellow scouts, culminating in a campfire ceremony.
What finally led to Caleb’s Eagle Scout status was the completion of his Eagle Scout Service Project. An Eagle Scout Service Project requires prospective Eagle Scouts to demonstrate their leadership skills while completing a project to benefit their community.
Inspired by a raised bed flower garden installed by middle schoolers in Granite City’s Wilson Park, Caleb’s idea was to plant a raised bed vegetable garden near the park’s largest baseball field. Park officials told him that while they didn’t need a vegetable garden, they would gladly welcome another flower garden. They even agreed to provide Caleb with all of the materials – wood, soil, seeds and more – but it was his leadership that truly made the project come to life.
“He organized a bunch of his friends, and we came out on May 4, 2014,” Matthew recalled. “They put together one of those flower gardens, and it matches the other one.”
Caleb’s garden still stands today in the same place next to its twin predecessor. Matthew said Wilson Park staff regularly maintain it, planting new flowers in it each year. The raised bed currently awaits its next round of flowers in 2025, which will mark the garden’s eleventh year on the park grounds.
After compiling pictures and the story behind his project into a scrapbook, Caleb presented it to his local Eagle Scout Board of Review to consider him for the rank of Eagle Scout. Matthew fondly recalled the moment they were called back to receive the good news.
“We just waited – and that was the hard part, was waiting,” Matthew recalled. “They called him back, we still didn’t know what was going on, and then they said, ‘Congratulations Caleb Donaldson, you are now an Eagle Scout for the rest of your life.’ I know how proud he was – and I was proud, because I had tears in my eyes.”
While he was named an Eagle Scout on Oct. 9, 2014, he officially received his badge during a special ceremony – the Eagle Court of Honor – on May 4, 2016.
A 10-Year Story Untold
After Caleb became an Eagle Scout, Matthew told his son he would get a story about the achievement printed in the local newspaper. While raising his two sons as a single father, Matthew was also working and earning his Master’s Degree. As time passed, the city’s only local newspaper eventually shut down.
After an accomplished career in the Boy Scouts, Caleb went on to earn his Associate’s Degree from Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) before attending SIUE to pursue a Bachelor’s in the advertising field.
While on a break from his academic pursuits, Caleb now uses the skills he learned to serve his community in a new role as the Scanning Coordinator for the County Market in Girard, Ill. Among his responsibilities are to ensure items ring up correctly at the registers and to ensure prices, signage, and ads are displayed properly throughout the store.
Over the years, Matthew never forgot the promise he made, congratulating his son each year on each anniversary of his Eagle Scout accomplishment. He wasn’t sure how else to get the story into the local news until he spoke with his fellow Piasa Flyer Club member and Riverbender.com Owner John Hentrich.
After submitting a news tip to news@riverbender.com and answering questions from a reporter, Matthew has now fulfilled the promise he made to his son a decade ago, as the story of Caleb’s Eagle Scout accomplishment proudly appears in the local news.
