High adventure trips were the highlight of Boy Scouts for Andrew Patterson, on the left. (Submitted photo)

BY SHERI TRUSTY

PORT CLINTON – As 17-year-old Andrew Patterson was researching Eagle Scout projects, he learned that his cousin’s troop had restored American flag retirement boxes. He decided to look into the possibility of doing that in Port Clinton, too, but what he found surprised him: Port Clinton has no flag retirement boxes.

“I realized there weren’t any, so I decided to build them,” Patterson said.

Patterson, of Troop 360, became an Eagle Scout during his board of review on Feb. 6. For his final Eagle Scout project, he built three flag retirement boxes that are now located in the Port Clinton City Hall foyer, in the Port Clinton VFW Post 2480 foyer, and inside Trinity Unity Methodist Church, where his troop meets. The project helps people in his community honor flags that have become too tattered to fly.

“I think it’s important that people retire the flag the proper way,” he said.

Patterson has been involved with Scouts since he joined Cub Scouts in first grade. He said the most interesting part of his scouting journey has been the trips.

“I’ve done a lot of high adventure trips,” he said. “My favorite was the two-week New Mexico backpacking trip. I did that two times. It was a lot of fun. I also liked the Minnesota trip. We went backpacking and canoeing for a week.”

Andrew Patterson stands next to one of three American flag retirement boxes he built as his Eagle Scout project. (Submitted photo)

Patterson’s communication skills grew strong through his experiences in Scouts.

“I feel like it helped me be able to talk to new people easier,” he said. “On the trips, I always met a lot of new people.”

Scouts helped Patterson thrive as a person, and now he is helping younger Scouts develop into good men, too.

“As long as I’ve known Andrew, he’s been a stand-up guy, and he’s always been there for the younger scouts,” said Troop Leader Ryan Chapman. “He’s been instrumental in helping young boys develop. He’s well-deserving.”

VFW Post 2480 Commander Keith Grimm is grateful for the flag retirement boxes.

“We believe the flag should be disposed of properly. We don’t want to see them in the trash,” Grimm said. “The three boxes give us the opportunity to collect more flags than we could before.”

American flags can be dropped off at the VFW site anytime between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. The box is right inside the front door, making drop-offs convenient. VFW members will collect flags from all three sites, and the VFW Honor Guard will dispose of them during flag retirement ceremonies.

“We have a special ceremony. There is a speech, and the flag is burned. With the ceremony, you are dedicating the flag,” Grimm said.

Grimm said the boxes that Patterson built “are very well-made.”

“Working with Andrew was a really pleasant experience,” Grimm said. “He’s a very personable young man, and we like to do anything we can for boys in uniform.”