Ray Atwell, Scout Master of Troop 555, often starts his presentations with the same story.

"About 13 years ago, I attended a Christmas party and was introduced to someone as the local Scout master. The man I was introduced to, fairly well-known, with a very athletic son, turns to me and says, 'Scouting, that's where kids go who can't do anything else."Atwell recounts that he respectfully held his tongue and moved on, but the story stayed with him."When you see these guys, all of these guys," he said, "you know that they are involved in sports, the arts, church youth groups, scouting and so much more."May 19 was a particularly proud day for Atwell and all of Troop 555 Three of the troop's senior Scouts received their Eagle Scout badges, bringing the total number of Eagle Scouts from the troop to 50."It has been such a privilege to be part of this program, to watch young boys develop into fine young men like this," Atwell said. "I'm glad that Fish (Matt), Luke and Chris are able to celebrate their ceremony together. They've come a long way from the 11-year-old Webelos that joined the troop some 7 years ago."Chris Miller is the son of Judy and David Miller. For his Eagle Scout project, Chris installed a new roof on a shed a St. Joseph's Cemetery. While working in the cemetery, Chris decided to also help by installing six new veterans grave markers and re-freshening the landscaping around the flagpole.Jim Thorpe Mayor Michael Sofranko spoke on behalf of Chris."Chris is very soft-spoken, serious and takes things to heart," said Sofranko. "When Chris needed help, he found the people he needed to teach him or help him to get the job done. I know he will do as well outside of scouting as he did here. He has a bright future ahead of him."Luke Eggert is the son of Tara and Eddie Eggert. Luke chose to create a grove and fire circle behind Christ Lutheran Church for his project. Over time the project grew to include clearing and leveling land for a future pavilion and a wooden bench around the fire circle."Luke is a smart aleck and a goofball, that's for sure," said Pastor John Hassler. "But he is a hard worker. We really appreciate the work he has done, and the fire circle has been used by Scout groups, our vacation Bible school, and I find it so relaxing I have even done pastoral counseling there. This year we will be conducting some church services there as well."Lastly, Matt Miller is the son of Margaret and Clyde Miller. Matt's project was to build and install six benches at the boccie courts in Baer Memorial Park in Lehighton. The courts were built by a Troop 555 Eagle Scout Jake McGeehan as his Eagle Scout project. Both the courts and the benches are earmarked for the Special Olympics, but are used for the senior games as well.In speaking about Matt, Christine Rodrigues of Carbon County Special Olympics talked about the purpose the benches serve."Many people don't realize the difficulty that some of our athletes have with endurance. Practices for the Special Olympics often run two hours, and it would be very hard for some of our participants to stand for that long, so the benches are going to good use," Rodrigues said. "I was so impressed with Matt; I didn't even know that the benches were done until I saw them on our Facebook page."Each of the boys received a resolution from Carbon County presented by Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein, as well as a citation from state Rep. Doyle Heffley.Elks Lodge 319 representative Harold Litts provided the pin sets for the Scouts and their families.The ceremony concluded with a comment from the Master of Ceremonies, Rick Grant."I know, personally having seen you three grow up that this is not your first accomplishment, but as the years go by you will look back on tonight as one of your greatest accomplishments."