By Doug Miller
Thanks to Andy Cook, genealogy buffs and family historians can take some of the guesswork out of finding Great-Great-Grandad’s final resting place.
For his Boy Scout Eagle project, Cook spent eight months helping Grace Episcopal Church in Elkridge establish a database for its hundreds of gravesites. The Elkridge resident, now a sophomore at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, earned the rank of Eagle Scout in his senior year of high school as a member of Troop 432.
Cook says he never entertained any thought of not pursuing his Eagle rank, Boy Scout’s highest. For him, making Eagle was the only conceivable culmination of his Scouting career.
“It’s the pinnacle of Scouting,” he says. “There was no reason not to go all the way.”
He adds that, since his work toward Eagle, practical lessons about organization and perseverance have sunk in. “You realize how it applies in everyday life,” Cook says.
Cook also values the fraternity of Eagle Scouts. “It builds a connection,” he says.
