With the attainment of his Eagle Award, Matthew Semmel has followed in his big brother's footsteps.

Much like his older brother Steven, the experience Semmel gained through his affiliation with Palmerton Boy Scout Troop 20 will enable him to carve out his own path in life.Semmel, of Lower Towamensing Township, received his Eagle Scout Award during an Eagle Court of Honor held earlier this month at St. John's Towamensing Lutheran Church in Palmerton.To achieve the Eagle Award, a Scout must earn 21 merit badges, as 11 badges are required by the Boy Scouts of America. In addition, he must complete a service project.Each of the boys in Troop 20 used the 12 parts of the Boy Scout Law to explain how Semmel had helped them in Scouting.Semmel was presented a flag flown over Harrisburg on the day he was granted Eagle status by Assistant Scoutmaster Gregory Gruber.State Rep. Doyle Heffley presented Semmel with a citation regarding his award.Semmel then presented his parents, Mark and Paula Semmel, with pins for their support, and presented Marsha Beers, a Palmerton High School German/Spanish teacher, with his mentor pin.He was awarded his Eagle Scout scarf by Scoutmaster James Schneck, who also completed the ceremony with a "roast" of Semmel, which brought about a lot of amusement regarding Semmel's years in Scouting.The ceremony was attended by family, friends and troop members with their families. Most notably, seven other Eagle Scouts from Troop 20 attended and provided a memory of Semmel's time in the troop.Semmel completed his Eagle Scout Project at the Stoney Ridge PARC in Lower Towamensing Township.As part of his project, he built three family-size picnic tables and replaced seven park benches. He worked on design and materials over the winter in November 2013. He began construction in June and finished in July.Semmel enjoyed camping at the center and wanted to add to the contributions made by other Eagle Scouts in his troop, such as his brother Steven, who had worked on the tables and pavilion two years before.He used computer-aided design to design the tables and calculate materials for both the tables and benches, and through his project learned a great deal about costing out a project and project management.Semmel will attend Penn College of Technology for Engineering Design Technology and Plastic and Polymer Design in the fall.