Bryan Gross and Alex Nieves, members of Troop 807, under the direction of Tyler D. Smith, participated in the Eagle Court of Honor held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Friday, Nov. 4.

Gross earned his Eagle Scout rank on Sept. 19. He is the son of Wayne and Iris Gross and is a senior at Pinecrest High School.

Gross started Scouting at the age of 7. Over the last 11 years, he has had several Scouting mentors, but the one who most helped in his development was B .Jay Smith, the brother of his current Scoutmaster.

Under supervision of the Southern Pines Parks and Recreation and the direction of Robert Reeve, Gross chose as his project to help beautify and keep in top condition all of the benches around the Southern Pines Reservoir Lake. All of the benches were cleaned, sanded and stained. A brand-new bench was built to replace an older one at the farthest point of the lake. This bench was dedicated in memoriam to B .Jay Smith. Donations were collected from Lowe's Home improvement, Sittin' Easy, and nuView Home Theaters and More.

Nieves earned his Eagle Scout Award in June. He is the son of Melvin and Wendy Nieves and is a June 2011 graduate of Pinecrest High School.

Nieves' Eagle project consisted of building a stairway at the football field of Southern Pines Elemen-tary School to assist the many people who come to cheer on the local teams who play there, as well as the students who attend the school. The stairway enables spectators young and old to safely climb the hill to get to the shaded seating area that overlooks the football field.