Greene teenager becomes Eagle Scout, earns 139 merit badges
Eagle Scout Kolbie Cummings with Scout Leader Rollin Neudel. Kolbie spent five years earning all 138 available merit badges, as well as one merit badge that had been retired. (Submitted photo)
GREENE — Boy Scout Troop 162 member Kolbie Cummings recently earned the rank of Eagle Scout, and spent five years earning 139 merit badges. This makes him the first Boy Scout in Chenango County to earn all available merit badges.
To become an Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts must earn a minimum of 21 merit badges, and complete an Eagle Project.
Kolbie's mother, Heather Cummings, said he started out as a Cub Scout around the age of 8. From there, they went looking for 4H programs and found the Boy Scouts instead. When they learned most Boy Scouts only earn 21 merit badges to earn the Eagle rank, Cummings said they immediately wanted to go for all badges available.
"Everybody's getting 21 and we threw it out there, you know we want to get all 139," said Cummings. "And the leaders and everybody were like, oh you won't do that ... All the kids always want to do it and then they never go through with it."
This didn't deter Cummings, however. She said she didn't want her son to be discouraged, and wanted to support him through this uncommon feat. But, earning 139 merit badges came with some challenges.
"It's not as easy as just earning the merit badges, you have to find somebody that's a volunteer," said Cummings. "And that's where the real hard work went in. The hard work goes to the boys to do all the paperwork and all their information that is required for them. But finding somebody that's gonna say, yeah I'll volunteer my hours to do this, is another thing."
Compounding this difficulty was the pandemic, which reduced the amount of children that could participate in each class, or shut them down completely.
"He had to finish this all in the pandemic so when everything closed he still had to get two merit badges, and do his Eagle Scout Project with very little resources. Because everyone was shut down and no one wanted to do anything," said Cummings. "And then finding volunteers to help us finish the Eagle Scout too, because people were like, oh we have to go outside, we can't have more than five people."
Despite these challenges, Kolbie persevered. Cummings said he kept to a schedule to ensure he earned every merit badge by the time he turned 18 and aged out of Boy Scouts.
"Four times a year they have the recognitions for the merit badges and different things," she said. "Every time we were like, okay, we have to have ten merit badges every time."
To earn the merit badges, Cummings said she and Kolbie traveled all over the state to find volunteers. They visited a SCUBA instructor in the 1000 Islands, the Kopernik Center in Binghamton, a Buddhist camp in Smithville, and more.
Traveling to meet with these volunteers propelled Kolbie through the list of merit badges, and he eventually earned all 138 available, plus one additional merit badge that had been retired.
"138 is the maximum, and they retire some of them. And then so he did one that was retired, on the computer," said Cummings. "And now they made it into programming, for instance. So he has to learn how to program games and stuff. And we had to go to Cornell for that one."
Upon completing all 139 merit badges, Kolbie finished up his time as a Boy Scout with an Eagle Scout Project. For his project he chose to do some work for the First Presbyterian Church in Smithville.
"It's like an offsite church property, so they can do like Easter Sunday and stuff like that," Cummings explained. "He had to go up and put up the buildings and make benches. He had to finish an altar, and he put a cross up."
Now that the years-long project is complete, Kolbie is preparing to go to Paul Smith College, where he hopes to major in Forestry. He is also a member of the Order of the Arrow, or OA, according to Cummings.
"You can become an OA, and that's like a brotherhood and you can keep doing that after you become Eagle or you age out," she said.
Cummings said it was important to her to support Kolbie through this, because she wants him to know he can always reach for what he wants.
"You have to show your kid that, what they want, you have to be behind them. Because once they start you have to make sure they get there, and be able to reach for them," she said.
It was also important for Cummings to teach her son from a young age the importance of helping out your community.
"When you start so young, it's kind of like wearing a seatbelt. You're always going to wear it. Like, you're always going to fundraise, or you're gonna help out the community because you've been raised to help the community," she said.
To become an Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts must earn a minimum of 21 merit badges, and complete an Eagle Project.
Kolbie's mother, Heather Cummings, said he started out as a Cub Scout around the age of 8. From there, they went looking for 4H programs and found the Boy Scouts instead. When they learned most Boy Scouts only earn 21 merit badges to earn the Eagle rank, Cummings said they immediately wanted to go for all badges available.
"Everybody's getting 21 and we threw it out there, you know we want to get all 139," said Cummings. "And the leaders and everybody were like, oh you won't do that ... All the kids always want to do it and then they never go through with it."
This didn't deter Cummings, however. She said she didn't want her son to be discouraged, and wanted to support him through this uncommon feat. But, earning 139 merit badges came with some challenges.
"It's not as easy as just earning the merit badges, you have to find somebody that's a volunteer," said Cummings. "And that's where the real hard work went in. The hard work goes to the boys to do all the paperwork and all their information that is required for them. But finding somebody that's gonna say, yeah I'll volunteer my hours to do this, is another thing."
Compounding this difficulty was the pandemic, which reduced the amount of children that could participate in each class, or shut them down completely.
"He had to finish this all in the pandemic so when everything closed he still had to get two merit badges, and do his Eagle Scout Project with very little resources. Because everyone was shut down and no one wanted to do anything," said Cummings. "And then finding volunteers to help us finish the Eagle Scout too, because people were like, oh we have to go outside, we can't have more than five people."
Despite these challenges, Kolbie persevered. Cummings said he kept to a schedule to ensure he earned every merit badge by the time he turned 18 and aged out of Boy Scouts.
"Four times a year they have the recognitions for the merit badges and different things," she said. "Every time we were like, okay, we have to have ten merit badges every time."
To earn the merit badges, Cummings said she and Kolbie traveled all over the state to find volunteers. They visited a SCUBA instructor in the 1000 Islands, the Kopernik Center in Binghamton, a Buddhist camp in Smithville, and more.
Traveling to meet with these volunteers propelled Kolbie through the list of merit badges, and he eventually earned all 138 available, plus one additional merit badge that had been retired.
"138 is the maximum, and they retire some of them. And then so he did one that was retired, on the computer," said Cummings. "And now they made it into programming, for instance. So he has to learn how to program games and stuff. And we had to go to Cornell for that one."
Upon completing all 139 merit badges, Kolbie finished up his time as a Boy Scout with an Eagle Scout Project. For his project he chose to do some work for the First Presbyterian Church in Smithville.
"It's like an offsite church property, so they can do like Easter Sunday and stuff like that," Cummings explained. "He had to go up and put up the buildings and make benches. He had to finish an altar, and he put a cross up."
Now that the years-long project is complete, Kolbie is preparing to go to Paul Smith College, where he hopes to major in Forestry. He is also a member of the Order of the Arrow, or OA, according to Cummings.
"You can become an OA, and that's like a brotherhood and you can keep doing that after you become Eagle or you age out," she said.
Cummings said it was important to her to support Kolbie through this, because she wants him to know he can always reach for what he wants.
"You have to show your kid that, what they want, you have to be behind them. Because once they start you have to make sure they get there, and be able to reach for them," she said.
It was also important for Cummings to teach her son from a young age the importance of helping out your community.
"When you start so young, it's kind of like wearing a seatbelt. You're always going to wear it. Like, you're always going to fundraise, or you're gonna help out the community because you've been raised to help the community," she said.
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