Scott Swanson
For Nicholas Mattson, earning an Eagle Scout rank is really just following in his family’s footsteps.
Mattson, 17, became an Eagle Scout, the highest level achievable in Scouting, at a Court of Honor on July 23 at the Sweet Home Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
His father, Jonathan Mattson, who administered his son’s Eagle Oath at the ceremony, was also an Eagle Scout, as were two uncles.
Nicholas Mattson, who’s been a Scout for nearly 10 years, said he simply likes the ingenuity and experiences he’s had through the organization.
“I love camping and being in the outdoors in general,” he said. “I just like the way Scouts show you what a person can do with their own two hands.”
He said he has most enjoyed working with metal – “I actually got to be a blacksmith and forge steel. That was a fun merit badge.” He’s also enjoyed working with leather.
“You make all sorts of stuff.”
He’s earned 49 merit badges, each focusing on a particular topic and fulfilling specific requirements, since graduating to the Boy Scouts from Cub Scouts at age 11.
“I’m not done yet,” said Mattson, who plans to study mechanical engineering at Oregon State University after serving a two-year church mission. He said he wants to add as many more badges as possible, though he knows he’s running out of time – the cut-off is when he turns 18. He hopes to earn Eagle Palms, which go to Scouts who have attained Eagle status and keep progressing.
For his Eagle Scout project, which he actually completed more than a year ago, Mattson created and installed 82 campground markers for five U.S. Forest Service campgrounds along Highway 20 east of Sweet Home – Trout Creek, Fernview, House Rock, Yukwah and Lost Prairie.
“I went to the Forest Service and asked them if they had any projects worthy of an Eagle Scout project, and I gave them an outline of what was required,” he said.
“They chose that one.”
The 4-foot-tall 4×4 pressure-treated posts for the markers were provided by the Forest Service, he said, and the 3-inch diameter stainless steel number signs attached near the pyramid top on each marker were milled and donated by Brian Hartl of Linn Gear of Lebanon.
Mattson said the entire project took about a year “because we couldn’t get to Lost Prairie due to snow.”
Even when he and some volunteers finally arrived at the campground, in late fall after waiting all summer for the snow to melt, “it started snowing again.”
The installation process took several weekends, with help from fellow students at Sweet Home High School, his church and his Boy Scout troop.
“I learned how difficult it can be to be a good leader,” Mattson said. “But in the long run, it can be incredibly rewarding.”