Boy Scout Troop 555 of Jim Thorpe is having a banner year for Eagle Scouts. On May 16 two more young men were welcomed into the ranks of Troop 555's more than 60 Eagle Scouts.

Christopher John Williams and Kyle Spencer Rich both completed community-oriented projects to top off their years of dedication to scouting.Rich, a sophomore at Jim Thorpe Area High School, created a large, permanent vegetable garden at Christ Lutheran Church for the benefit of the church's food pantry. A total of 137 hours were spent on reworking the smaller garden that was located at the church.In addition to the work done by Rich, the group CARES that rents space at the church has taken over working in the garden and has already begun this year's seeds, making the garden serve two community purposes in just its first year.During his years in scouting, Rich has earned 35 merit badges and served as a patrol leader and chaplain's aide.Rich is the son of Richard and Bonnie Kaminski of Albrightsville, and he awarded his mentor's pin to his father for his guidance and for his assistance with Rich's Eagle project.Williams chose to build bookshelves for the Dimmick Memorial Library as his Eagle Scout project. Williams worked closely with carpenter John Slack to design and build the shelves. The shelves will be used to house children's books, videos and DVDs at the library.Williams worked 185 hours on his project. He raised money to purchase the materials as well as design, build and finish the shelves.Both of the young men thanked outgoing Scoutmaster Ray Attwell for everything he has done and meant to them throughout their years with troop "triple nickel" as Williams referred to it, but Williams had a special reason to thank Attwell. It seems that Williams took over Attwell's garage for the duration of his project."To Ray, I could not thank you enough for being the greatest scoutmaster I could ask for. You were extremely understanding and flexible with my soccer schedule and even when you were upset with me, you would also be there to support me. Thank you for lending me your garage to store the wood and build the shelves," Williams said. "I would truly not have stayed in Scouts if it was not for you, and for that I could never thank you enough."Williams also thanked Slack for stepping in and helping out when the first carpenter he worked with didn't work out. He said Slack had taught him so much about carpentry and thanked him by honoring him with his mentor's pin.Williams is the son of David and Suzanne Williams of Albrightsville. During his years in scouting he has earned 27 merit badges and served his troop as patrol leader and quartermaster.