It never ceases to amaze me how small the world can be, and how especially small the county can be. I don’t just mean actual size of the land or amount of people, either, but how surprisingly tight-knit everyone is and the thousands of connections we make on a regular basis, often without even realizing it.

I discovered one of these connections this week as I was following up on a story about a young man who will be receiving his Eagle Scout award on Saturday.

As I believe I’ve mentioned in past columns or blogs, I participated in scouts from 3rd grade until my graduation and received my Eagle Scout in 2006, a point that has brought me plenty of personal pride over the years. I don’t consider myself better than anyone else because of this award; everyone has at least one thing that they’ve accomplished in their life that they’re especially proud of.

For me it was my Eagle award, everything I learned during the process, and the friends I made while doing it.

It isn’t an easy task to complete and one of the biggest hurdles is the Eagle Scout project. This project involves planning a community service act, raising the necessary funds, organizing a crew to do the project and then presenting a complete breakdown of the process and completion of that project.

Throughout my career in scouting, I assisted in numerous projects with other scouts including building a bridge in a park, creating a work area at the Northeast Classic Car museum, and building a handicapped accessible ramp at the Chenango Memorial Hospital.

When it came time to choose my project, I received a little help from my father. Several times a week, he would take our dog Chloe for a walk down Pleasant Street, hang a left towards Kurt Beyer, and then venture into the trails of Rotary Park. He had mentioned the disrepair of the trails to me years before, but it wasn’t until my senior year of high school that I realized the extent of the neglect and chose to help.