Attaining the rank of Eagle is a rarity in Scouting. So much so, that only 2 percent of Scouts achieve the honor. To have one member from a troop become an Eagle is a remarkable feat, but to have eight Scouts from the same troop become Eagles at the same time is nearly unprecedented. That’s what Lakewood Troop 49 will experience Saturday morning as eight members will become Eagle Scouts during an Eagle Court of Honor ceremony.

The eight being honored are Joseph W. Chehy III, Joseph A. Borges, Russell Lambert, Sean Morris, Nicholas J. Masse, Connor N. Devine, Matthew Parente and Andrew G. Allen.

“I’m very proud,” said troop leader Joseph Chehy Jr. “It’s amazing. All these Scouts are unique and contribute to the community in their own special way.”

Eagle projects completed by the Scouts include the following: Chehy III painted the lines of the tennis courts at Pilgrim High School; Borges did a collection drive of general school supplies for teachers at Holliman Elementary School; Devine did a habitat reconstruction at Ninigret State Park, in which he planted trees for small feral animals; Parente did a community beautification project on an island at the corner of Warwick Avenue and Ocean State Job Lot and Newport Creamery, where he continues to maintain what he started a year ago; Lambert painted a mural at his church; Allen painted part of the a a battleship in Massachusetts to help preserve it; Masse did a collection drive of toiletry items for kids that age out of foster care and have to go into a halfway house program; and Morris worked with Hasbro Children’s Hospital Project Linus, which provides blankets for kids, by both making and donating blankets for the cause.

“My project was leading a group of volunteers in creating handmade fleece blankets that would be donated to Project Linus,” Morris said in an email to the Beacon. “The blankets would then be given out by Project Linus to children in local hospitals. Together we created two-dozen blankets that would be donated.”

In an email to the Beacon, Allen said, “My Eagle Project was the restoration of the forecastle area on the decommissioned Naval Destroyer the USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. at Battleship Cove in Fall River, Mass. It entailed the chipping of cracked, corroded and rusted areas of paint back down to bare metal, priming those areas, and then finishing them off with a new coat of paint for a clean and protected finish.”

Chehy said eight is the most Scouts of Lakewood Troop 49 to attain the Eagle rank at one time. He said many of the boys started out together as Cub Scouts.

“Matt Parente, Joe Chehy, Russell Lambert, Joseph Borges, and Connor Devine were prodigies of Ron Bailey and achieved the Arrow of Light as Cub Scouts,” he said. “The Arrow of Light is a prestigious honor; it’s the highest attainable award by a Cub Scout.”

Chehy said the other three Scouts, Sean Morris, Nick Masse and Andrew Allen, were with a prior crew before joining Lakewood.

“We weren’t able to honor them yet, so we thought we would do it all at once,” he said.

Chehy said the ultimate goal of a Scout is to become an Eagle.

“They are released into the world with a knowledge and skill set that 92 percent of people in general don’t have, such as First Aid, knot tying, archery, boating, citizenship in the country and the world,” he said. “When an Eagle Scout goes into the military, they automatically receive a rank advancement out of boot camp because of their skill set and leadership ability.”

Chehy said those skills and leadership abilities are built and mastered through a system by which the Scouts are allowed to make mistakes so they can learn from them.

“We let the boys do their thing and lead the troop. Adults only get involved when there’s blood,” he said. “Our Scouts pack their own bags; if they forget something, they will not forget it next time.”

Chehy said the best lessons come from learning from their mistakes.

“You see the highs and the lows, but the best part is when they make mistakes, sitting back and watching them figure it out,” he said. “I’m an Eagle Scout also; these kids get it. We’re not doing things for them. We help and guide, but they’re able to learn on their own.”

Chehy said he would match his troop up against any troop.

“Our kids rock,” he said. “We held a barbeque competition in April with 18 teams and we came in first place in ribs and pork, second in chicken and third in dessert. We wrapped a shopping cart in tin foil to use as our smoker.”

Chehy said Scouting is a great social opportunity for kids because it allows them to learn to get along together.

“We camp 12 months out of the year, and have even held our bean-hole bake in 2 feet of snow,” he said, adding that Chehy III won second place in the bean-hole bake. “Normally electronics such as phones and computers aren’t allowed, but we do one reward trip where they’re allowed to use electronics.”

Chehy said the troop has been as low as 12 and as high as more than 40 members but currently has 18 Scouts.

“We have a feeder pack with Scouts coming up,” he said.

Although many of the Scouts grew up together and will all become Eagles this weekend, their various talents and abilities have taken them in a number of different fields.

“Andrew Allen is in the Maritime Academy, Joe Chehy is going into the Army as an M.P., Joseph Borges is going to college for chemistry, Connor Devine is going into astronomy, and Russell Lambert is going into video game design as part of an offset of Disney World,” Chehy said. “He’s off the wall and creative as can be. He’ll be the next millionaire.”

Allen said, “I am currently a cadet at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy going into my sophomore year. After graduating MMA, I plan on starting a long and prosperous career on the sea, traveling the world and working as a licensed ship’s officer of the United States Merchant Marines.”

Morris said he just completed his freshman year at Western New England University in Springfield, Mass., where he is majoring in Forensic Biology.

Chehy said Scouting not only provides a great sense of accomplishment, but it also builds confidence.

“These are confident level-headed individuals,” he said. “I congratulate them. I’m very proud of them, and if they ever need a reference, I would do it. I don’t say that for everybody.”

The Lakewood Troop 49 Eagle Court of Honor will be held at Lakewood Baptist Church on Atlantic Avenue on Saturday, June 27. A review of the Scouts’ achievements will begin at 9 a.m., with the ceremony to follow at 10.