Thomas Graham, of Troop 777 in Tamaqua, received the rank of Eagle Scout at a court of honor held on Nov. 19 at the West Penn Fire Company in New Ringgold.

Since joining Scouting in 2014, Thomas has held numerous leadership positions within the troop, including bugler, patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader and senior patrol leader. Thomas also served as the Assistant Senior Patrol Leader for the local contingency when attending the 2023 National Scouting Jamboree. He has earned a variety of merit badges such as music, shotgun shooting, cycling, cooking, and emergency preparedness. To date, he has earned 63 merit badges, 35 of which will allow him to earn three bronze palms, two silver palms and two gold palms

For his Eagle Scout project, Thomas constructed and installed an island cabinet from raw materials for the Tamaqua Raider Band booster stand. In addition to the island, he also added support structures to the outside countertops making them level again and topped the area off with a fresh coat of paint.

State Sen. David Argall and state Rep. Jamie Barton were on hand to present Thomas with citations and proclamations and speak about the benefits of scouting and the importance of lessons learned during the trail to Eagle. Also, Hank Tomasik and Mark Mihalik from the Marine Corps League were in attendance and presented Thomas with a certificate of good citizenship. In addition, Thomas received dozens of congratulatory letters and certificates sent by other government departments and officials, local agencies and other dignitaries who were unable to attend.

Thomas is a sophomore at Tamaqua High School. He is an honor student and a member of the high school soccer and swimming teams as well as member of the Tamaqua Drama club, Jazz & Concert Chorus and a section leader in the Tamaqua Raider Marching Band. Upon graduation he plans on attending college and pursuing a degree in one of the engineering fields.

He lives with his parents, Michael and Jaime at his home in New Ringgold.

At the court of honor, Thomas thanked his fellow scouts and family, and presented Larry Bensinger with the scouting “mentor” pin for playing important roles in his journey along the trail to Eagle.

Chartered in 1960 as Troop 76 later rechartered as Troop 777 now hosts a total of 99 Eagle Scouts. Thomas is the 96th scout to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.

More information about the troop can be found on the Troops Facebook page “Boy Scout Troop 777”.