ARCANUM–Garrett Rose was one of 23 students at Arcanum High School inducted into the National Honor Society on Oct. 13 this year.
This took place exactly two months after he received his Eagle Scout award, the highest honor ever for a Boy Scout.
Proud of both achievements, the 17-year-old senior is the son of Darick and Ashley (Fisher) Rose, who are equally as proud.
His Scouting project began last year and revolved around the village’s Ivester Park.
However, the Eagle Scout award was in his future when he crossed over to the Boy Scouts of America. He finished it in October 2022.
Garrett’s goal was to donate something to the town’s culture at the Scout cabin and the flag post on which he had worked in previous missions there.
“I wanted to donate something that will be there a long time for the town’s culture…the original brick,” Garret said in a previous interview.
So, he elected to create a new walkway to the shelter house.
The new walkway is 14 bricks wide and 56 feet long, and, at the end, it makes a curve onto the contour of the roadway.
“It took forever,” said Garrett. “Some days, I had a lot of help, and some days, it was just my dad and me.”
Five or six people worked laying the bricks, and Darick took off all of the mortar on the bricks, using a grinder, hammer, and chisel, it was noted.
The bricks used in the project were once used on the streets of Arcanum, and using part of Arcanum’s history to improve the park was Garrett’s main intent, as noted before.
Bricks have been taken out over the years on the streets of Arcanum and were salvaged and stored, and Bill Kessler, village administrator at the time, and the park crew brought them to the site.
Garrett had the help of Troop 185 Scoutmaster Robert Stubbs and volunteers.
Even though the original goal for the teen was to be the leader of the project and assign jobs, it got to the point where he had to jump in and help with the work, but he didn’t mind it.
“I’d rather work and get the job done faster,” Garrett said.
Just making the pathway was not enough to attain the award; there were more requirements that needed to be accomplished. They included a 20-mile hike, the Eagle Board of Review, and lots of paperwork.
Garrett opted to work on the project in the fall because they couldn’t do it last spring, and he certainly didn’t want to work outside in the summertime.
Why? He was diagnosed at an early age with anhidrosis, which means he does not and cannot sweat, a condition he has adjusted to the best he can.
Having joined Scouting in the first grade, he went through many summer camps over the years, stumbling through it as well as he could, according to his father.
Why did he go into Scouting?
“I feel like because Dad told me about it,” Garrett replied.
“I thought it would be good for him to learn life skills,” remarked Darick.
Garrett spends a lot of his spare time inside during the hot season but does swim sometimes. He also likes cooking and gaming and has sports card catalogs.
Would he consider being a chef?
“I like to cook, but don’t know if it’s my forte,” he said.
In addition to NHS and Scouting, he is readying for the science fair.
Yes, he will be attending college after graduation.
“It will most likely be at Sinclair,” said Garrett, who has two younger sisters, Mazie and Londyn. “I will commute there and major in automotive technology. My great-uncle, Scott Hauschild. does something similar.”
His mentors over the years have included his father and grandfathers, Rick Rose and Kenny Fisher.
Garrett, who will turn 18 on Feb. 3, belongs to the Renaissance Club at Arcanum, which means he is among those who plan the assemblies and school spirit and help set up for those events and is a three-year member of FFA.
Another goal of his is to raise dogs eventually.
Oh, and yes, he is taking real estate classes after school and, after getting his diploma at the end of this school year, may get his license.
“I want to stay close to Darke County. I can’t imagine living far away,” he said.
His father seems happy with that. “He is self-sufficient and can do anything,” Darick said.
