Pinecrest High School senior Scotland Shouse was awarded Eagle Scout rank Sunday, April 5, at the Court of Honor held at Community Presbyterian Church in Pinehurst. He has been a member of BSA Troop No. 7 since 2001.

For Shouse, the Eagle rank was the final step in a Scouting career that began in 1998 as a Cub Scout in Johnson City, Tenn.

Shouse also earned Cub Scouting's highest award, the Arrow of Light, in 2001.

During his tenure at Troop No. 7, he was inducted into the Order of the Arrow in 2005 and directed a pet food drive for The Haven, a no-kill animal shelter in Hoke County.

His food drive collected more than one ton of pet food for the shelter.

Shouse's Eagle Scout community service project also benefited The Haven by creating a landscaped area with picnic tables for prospective pets and their families to get to know one another prior to adoption.

"I can't remember when I wasn't a Scout," Shouse said during the Eagle Court of Honor.

"In the early years in east Tennessee, we had to drive nearly 50 miles of curvy mountain roads to get to the closest Scout meeting."

Shouse described some memories of those early years as a Cub and Webelo Scout, including the pinewood derby competition and attending Camp Davy Crockett near Greenville, Tenn.

"I didn't think you could get any colder or wetter at a camp until I moved here and spent a week at Camp Durant where I even slept in my poncho," he said jokingly.

Shouse described some special memories he had while a member of Troop No. 7.

"Probably the one I will carry my whole life is the overnight stay on the USS Yorktown," he said.

"I had a tooth come out, and Mr. Grantham made sure that the tooth fairy visited me in that bunk on the ship."

Shouse expressed the loss felt by all the Scouts at the passing of Joe Grantham, who had been Scoutmaster of the troop for many years.

He also thanked Scout leaders Matt Mooney, Dr. Mike Maness, George Atherholt and Don McKenzie for their support and direction during his eight years in Troop No. 7.

Shouse, who is also a musician, graduates June 13, and will attend Spokane Falls Community College to study audio technology.

He is the son of Leslie Deane, of Pinehurst.