Laura Stabbert | Democrat CHRISTOPHER BRIGGS EARNED his Eagle Scout pin five years ago. Last Sunday, his mother Elise Schulte proudly pins the emblem while father Dan Briggs looks on in delight at an Eagle Scout Court of Honor.

Briggs off to Iraq

By Laura Stabbert
NEVERSINK — Last Sunday, Christopher Briggs was finally awarded his well-deserved Eagle Scout Court of Honor.
Briggs was awarded his Eagle Scout on July 19, 2004, after completing his community project which he worked on in conjunction with Sullivan Renaissance to complete a greenhouse at Tri-Valley Central School.
But his busy schedule after enlisting in the US Army made it hard to schedule the important event.
“Usually this ceremony takes months to prepare, but it was put together in a couple of days to accommodate Chris’ schedule,” said Chris’ father, Sullivan County County Clerk Dan Briggs.
This October Chris, who is 23, will be deployed to Iraq, just outside Baghdad.
“I’m just not looking forward to the heat, it’s 140 degrees in the summer,” Briggs said with a smile.
Boys Scouts Troop 97, Briggs’ former troop, opened the ceremony, and after the color guard posted the colors and a few words were said, Eagle Scout Chris Grey escorted Briggs to the stage.
Eagle Scouts Cary Castle and Chris Grey were called to the stage to take their Eagle Scout’s pledge along with Briggs.
Diana Grey then explained to the crowd that only two percent of scouts in the United States achieve the honor of Eagle Scout each year.
Many people spoke on behalf of Chris including Senator John Bonacic, who said, “Chris has been chosen to be a hero in America. He enlisted in the U.S. army to protect our freedoms. He is the best of the best of the American people.”
Chris Briggs had some of the last words of the ceremony, “I want to thank everyone who made this possible. For you young scouters – get the (Eagle) award.”
“He does not set out to be a leader, he just becomes one. Eagles, they do not flock, you find them one at a time,” said Committee Chair Larry Bracken.