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BUCHANAN — Buchanan senior Chris Patton recently completed his Eagle Scout project on the path to earning the Scouts’ highest rank.

Patton, a member of Eagle Scout Troop 541, recently built an outdoor worship center for St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 212 W. Front St., Buchanan, to earn his Eagle Rank. The project took 215 hours to plan and complete. Patton thanked community members for donating funds and volunteering time to help with the project.

“Having so many adults there to help me and guide me, help me set myself on a path to lead them in a way and get them to help out in that direction,” Patton said.

Patton recently wrapped up his fourth year playing varsity soccer for the Buchanan boys basketball team and is also a three-year member of the National Honor Society. He  joined Troop 541, under the direction of Scoutmaster Bill Blumka, three years ago.

Scouts need to accumulate at least 21 merit badges before earning the Eagle Scout rank. Of those 21 badges, 14 must come from this list of Eagle-required merit badges and the rest can be any badges not used for the 14. In total, Patton earned 28 merit badges and attended both the National Scout Jamboree and Philmont Scout Ranch this year.

Patton completed his Eagle requirements Oct. 19.

“This rank shows me that I have skills in different areas and different ranges if anybody needs help or guidance in certain areas if they need it,” Patton said.

Patton’s father, Chris Sr., earned the rank of Eagle Scout as a youth and is proud of his son’s accomplishments.

“Being active in scouting for 50 years, I was afraid that he would think it was my program,” Chris Sr. said. “I just allowed him to do it and he took ownership of it and found out it was something he enjoyed a lot. He stayed with it and he accomplished this. 2 percent of everyone who joins scouting attains Eagle Rank.”

After he graduates next spring, Patton plans to either pursue photography or computer science. He is proud to complete a project that can be used by the church for years to come.

“Having a project that’s dedicated to something that you’ve been working on for many years is just something that you can never forget about,” he said. “It’s like a piece of time that holds something to you and to everybody in the community.”