SARATOGA SPRINGS — Connor Ashline and Douglas Johnson of Boy Scout Troop 16 are Saratoga’s newest Eagle Scouts, following their Eagle Scout ceremony at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church this past Saturday, July 27.
Ashline joined Scouts in first grade as a Tiger cub. He joined out of his own volition, asking to join one day because his friend was also in the Pack. After some apprehension about crossing over, he became a Boy Scout of Troop 16, and went to summer camp almost every year, earning most of his 26 merit badges during the camps. He also attended all district camporees and Klondike derbies (both popular Scouting events) and participated in a variety of community service events.
His Eagle Project was constructing and pouring a concrete slab for St. Paul’s, the same location as his ceremony, to hold their dumpsters in place. Ashline’s father is a local contractor, so he had experience helping with concrete construction jobs. Pallette Stone and S&L Construction donated the materials.
Outside of Scouts, Ashline is a 2018 graduate of Saratoga Springs High School and is a student at Skidmore College. When not working or in class, he is rebuilding a 1966 Ford pickup truck, learning how through YouTube videos. He is interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement and looking into options to join a military reserve unit.
Johnson has also been in Scouts since he was a Tiger cub in first grade, joining because his father was also an Eagle Scout. He has been to the National Scout Jamboree in 2017 and went backpacking along the continental divide in Colorado the following year. This summer, he is going on a 5-day canoeing trip in the Adirondacks.
For his Eagle Project, Johnson built a hexagonal bench around a tree at St. Paul’s. He personally planned the design of the bench and led and supervised the boys during the two five-hour work days the project took. Luckily, many of the Scouts were experienced with power tools, so as Johnson put it “it was uplifting to see them learn new skills and broaden horizons with new abilities surrounding power tools.” Wherever human error created pieces that did not fit together, Johnson figured out how to resolve the issue with shims to fill in the gaps.
Outside of Scouts, Johnson is a rising junior at Saratoga Springs High School and plays hockey and tennis, is active in the church youth group at St Paul’s and enjoys watersports and mountain biking. He is also in the National Honor Society and on an engineering track.
