After years of hard work, Dayton Reeves and Jay Creech have joined a long lineage of Eagle Scouts in Boy Scouts Troop 46.

They are the 105th and 106th scouts in the Cornerstone Presbyterian Church troop to earn their Eagle Scout rank.

“I’m just glad to get it. It means a lot to me,” Reeves said.

The Morgan Academy seniors were presented their badges last Sunday at an Eagle Court of Honor ceremony.

“It was just a moment to honor us and show how hard we’ve worked for so long,” Creech said.

“It’s a lot of hard work. A lot of people don’t make it through, but it paid off for me. A lot of people look at it, and it means a lot to them.”

Reeves and Creech both started scouting at the age of five in Cub Scouts and have been hard at work earning badges and life lessons along the way.

“Boy Scouts itself has taught me a lot about life,” Creech said.

“I’ve gotten to hang out with a great group of guys and my leaders. They mean a lot to me. We’ve done a lot of trips like camping trips and the High Adventure camps.”

Reeves, the son of Edgar and Amy Reeves, is a second-generation Eagle Scout. He is a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.

Reeves played junior and varsity tennis at Morgan Academy. He also played football from termite league all the way up to varsity.

Reeves received the Catesby ap C. Jones Selma Quarterback Club Scholarship this year.

He was also awarded the Spirit of Auburn University Scholarship, which is where he plans to attend college in the fall to study engineering.

Creech, the son of Jim and Nancy Creech, is a member of First Baptist Church.

He has played basketball and football at Morgan Academy from termite league to varsity.

Creech also plans to attend Auburn University in the fall to study engineering. He was awarded the All Auburn University Scholarship.

The troop is led by scout master Fred McCormick and assistant scout masters Harold Wells and Robert Stapler.

Wells said Reeves, a second-generation Eagle Scout, and Creech have worked their way up the ranks and are very deserving of the Eagle Scout badge. He said both of them are also members of the Order of the Arrow.

Reeves and Creech both said they have enjoyed their time in Troop 46, especially the camping trips and the High Adventure camps.

“I did two of the High Adventure camps. We went hiking in New Mexico for 12 days, and that was a lot of fun,” Reeves said.

“Also, this past summer, we went up to Canada and did a bunch of canoeing and small mouth fishing.”

“We went to Canada fishing, and that was probably the most fun we’ve ever had,” Creech said.

One of the requirements to earn the eagle rank is an Eagle Scout project.

For his project, Creech rebuilt a bridge at Paul M. Grist State Park on one of the trails. Creech said the bridge was rotten and falling in, so he helped rebuild it.

“I basically took it apart and rebuilt the whole bridge,” Creech said.

The new bridge is wider and sturdier than the old one.

Reeves built a pavilion for the Blackbelt Benefit Group’s Grow Selma community garden. Reeves said it was in the group’s plan to build a pavilion.

The pavilion provides shelter for people working in the garden or groups visiting the garden.