Local Scout earns Eagle rank

Ninth-grader the fourth generation in his family to receive highest honor

James Nash Welch, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Troop 648, recently earned the highest attainable award for Scouting, the Eagle Scout rank, making him a fourth-generation Eagle Scout in his family. Welch's dad and maternal grandfather and great-grandfather were Eagle Scouts also. - photo by Special to the Herald

W James Nash Welch — James Nash Welch, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Troop 648, recently earned the highest attainable award for Scouting, the Eagle Scout rank, making him a fourth-generation Eagle Scout in his family. Welch's dad and maternal grandfather and great-grandfather were Eagle Scouts also. - photo by Special to the Herald

James Nash Welch, a ninth-grader at Statesboro High School, recently received the highest and most coveted award in Scouting. Welch earned the Eagle Scout rank for the Boy Scouts of America, an award that less than 2 percent of Boy Scouts in the United States ever attain. Involved in Scouting since he was 8 years old, Welch is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Troop 648, under the leadership of Scoutmaster Billy Arthur.