Bailey Jensen of Moultonborough was awarded the rank of Eagle on Friday, August 12, 2016 at an Eagle Court of Honor at 6:00 in the evening at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located at 388 North Main Street in Wolfeboro. Bailey is a member of Boy Scout Troop 650, and the troop is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

To earn the rank of Eagle, a Scout must earn at least 21 merit badges and demonstrate leadership and community service through an Eagle project. For his project, Bailey diligently organized the collection of dental hygiene supplies, organized over 40 volunteers, and worked closely with local dentists and the non-profit organization, Color My World (colormyworldkids.org) that does humanitarian work in Central and South America. Through Bailey’s willing efforts, over 900 toothbrushes, 650 tubes of toothpaste, 150 rolls of dental floss, and 100 bottles of mouthwash were collected and assembled into 150 dental kits. The kits were then donated to Color My World.

Bailey was able to travel with Color My World to help distribute these kits to adults and children in the village of Chinandega, Nicaragua. He greatly enjoyed being able to meet the people that his work would touch.

Bailey passed his final Eagle Board of Review on Wednesday, June 29th.

Bailey would like to thank Angela Hughes and the other Color My World volunteers, the local dentists who generously participated, the many local volunteers who helped to assemble the kits, his Scout Troop and leaders, and his parents and family for the many hours of help and support that have been given in pursuit of the Rank of Eagle.

The local dentists who donated supplies were:
– Dr. Darren Boles, Laconia
- Children’s Dentistry of the Lakes Region, Gilford
- Dr. George Felt, Meredith 
- Dr. Nicholas Fleury, Meredith
- Interlakes Family Dental Center, Moultonboro
- Dr. Robert Maguire, Wolfeboro 
- Dr. Richard Neal, Jr., Wolfeboro 
- Dr. Benjamin Selle, Wolfeboro 
- Dr. Shawn Silva, Wolfeboro 
- Dr. Charlie Simpson, Wolfeboro 
- Dr. Garrett Taoka, Center Harbor

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We were a group of 30- all which we didn’t know before hand and yet, became family throughout the week. We worked hard and helped one another. Teenagers came from all different states and helped my younger boys- whether it was through their fine example of hard work and leadership, playing with them, inspiring them, or at times ‘bodyguarding’ them. The teenagers brought energy and strength to our projects.

We also had a few families join the group. We loved getting to know them. We had a young man that worked on his Eagle project as well as my own son. A generous donation was given to provide the first technology at the school in a small village for the kids and a beautiful basketball court.

We were blessed to work with such an amazing organizer for the group, Angela Hughes, who I will forever be grateful for. She and her family are a blessing and angels to the world. We also had Dan, who shares his passion to help others and relates so well to people help CMW. He was so fun to have and my kids still mimick his awesome British accent.

We love each person in our group as we built memories working side by side sweating and playing. We enjoyed our night time chats where we came together and talked about the day.

We started building some of the first houses in a small village for families without homes, helped teach English at the school, feed lunch to the village and played with the cutest kids that live in some very poor areas near the Garbage Dump, visited the sweetest kids at an orphanage-who we quickly all adored from the first minute of playing with them, my son handed out hygiene/dental kits that the people loved, we built relationships with the locals and loved talking to them and hearing their stories.

We love each person we met as we worked and played side by side with them each day. They are the hardest working and most resourceful people ever. Our friends in Nicaragua blessed our lives and touched our hearts. We love them so much! We stayed at the most beauitful surf lodge, Monty’s Surf Lodge. We stayed in an awesome hut feet away from the ocean. Our lives have been changed, our hearts touched, and we will forever be grateful for this experience together.

Many times I wondered if this trip was for us- I wondered if I could really do this… Now, we are wondering when we can go back and feeling grateful to God for this beautiful world, beautiful children all over the world, and for giving us the opportunity to change our lives for the better.

Reflecting upon how grateful I am for God’s love, my family, the strength to get out of my comfort zone, the blessing of meeting such amazing people in my life and for the opportunity to go to Nicaragua with Color My World Kids. What a special experience for our family. One we will treasure forever in our hearts. We love our friends in Nicaragua and Color My World! Thank you for such a beautiful week.

{Written by Diane Ferre}

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By SIMON RIOS
Union Leader Correspondent

BEDFORD — Not many Boy Scouts achieve the honor of being an Eagle Scout. When Chase Hughes traveled to San Ramon, Costa Rica, to deliver hygiene kits to a Mormon mission there, he was on his way to achieving that lifelong goal.

“I want to be remembered as a hard worker and a good student and citizen,” said Hughes, 15, who will celebrate his new rank at the the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Manchester on Sunday.

Hughes, who will enter Trinity High School as a freshman this fall, said his favorite part of being a Scout was learning preparedness, wilderness survival and first aid.

A member of Bedford Boy Scout Troop 388, Hughes earned 38 merit badges — though just 21 are required — in addition to his service project. An Eagle Scout must pass through the six ranks and serve six months in a troop leadership position before being approved by the Eagle Scout review board.

Hughes plans to attend the Boy Scout National Jamboree in West Virginia next year, and aspires to advance to senior patrol leader. “I will continue to earn merit badges because they teach you life skills and help you become fluent in many areas of life,” he wrote in an email.

Humanitarian work will be central to Hughes’ future, he said. In 2000, the Hughes family started Color My World, a Bedford nonprofit organization centered around helping young people get involved in service work. He plans to remain active with the group, and encourage his friends to do the same.

“The pinnacle of Scouting for me is not really being an Eagle Scout, but what you do with your life after as a result of the program,” he said. In addition, he wants to work in aeronautics.

For Hughes, the hardest experience in Scouting came in the form of the yearly Klondike Derby, a camping trip in the middle of winter in the woods.

“It takes a lot of effort and time,” he said. “You have to be mentally prepared because you are freezing and usually wet. I know now I could probably really survive in an emergency situation.”

Hughes’ Eagle Scout project consisted of collecting and packing 150 hygiene kits, which he delivered to Faithful Servants Mission in Bajo Tejares, San Ramon, Costa Rica. The town is populated by impoverished Nicaraguan immigrants, largely marginalized by Costa Rican society. He worked with various local organizations — from the Bedford Little League to the Bedford Women’s Club to the Mormon church.

In June 2011, he traveled to Costa Rica, where he enjoyed bonding with the children on the basketball court.

With the money left over from his fundraising, Hughes bought sports equipment for the children in Bajo Tejares.

The Eagle Scout is proud to share the designation with such figures as President Gerald Ford, Neil Armstrong, Steven Spielberg and former FBI Director William Sessions — just a few of the more than 2 million Eagle badge recipients since 1912.

“Now, I feel a little more responsibility to give to others and make a difference in the life of someone,” Hughes wrote, offering a bit of wisdom to younger Scouts. “Go on as many campouts as you can and learn all of the advance skills taught to you — most of all have fun.”

According to the Boy Scouts of America, in 2011, 51,473 Scouts earned the rank of Eagle Scout, or about 5 percent of Scouts.

Chase’s father, Brian Hughes, said he’s happy his son finished his Eagle early.

“We are encouraging him now to spend the next several years working on merit badges that will expose him to career opportunities, continue to work with his troop and develop leadership skills by working with younger Scouts.”

Hughes will be recognized in Court of Honor ceremonies on Aug. 19, at 7 p.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Manchester.

srios@newstote.com

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