Four Edina Scouts Earn Eagle Rank
Four members of Scout Troop 123 recently achieved Eagle Scout rank, bringing the Edina troop's total to 208 Eagle Scouts since 1960, Mayor Jim Hufflin announced during his weekly update Wednesday.
The new Eagle Scouts are Preston Blakesley, Landon Blakesley, Noah Hecker and Noah Denfeld. Each completed community service projects requiring 100 to 150 hours of work, according to Hufflin.
The projects benefited multiple local organizations. Landon Blakesley constructed raised planter beds for Valley Park in Hopkins, while his twin brother Preston built a free little library on the grounds of Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church. Noah Hecker created storage boxes for props and costumes for the Edina High School Theater Department, and Noah Denfeld built wooden duck boxes that will be installed at Rosland Park.
The wooden duck boxes are designed to mimic natural tree cavities and provide nesting sites in areas where natural options are limited, Hufflin explained. The mayor attended the Eagle Court of Honor ceremony recognizing the scouts' achievements.
Hufflin also highlighted the success of Edina's Fourth of July celebration, which featured the Edina Dash race before the parade. Charlie won the men's adult race, Nah won the women's adult race, and 10-year-old Daniel won the children's race.
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- Long-term impact of Eagle Scout projects on Edina and Hopkins municipal infrastructure.
- Community engagement analysis: Tracking the 208 Eagle Scouts produced in Edina since 1960.
- The role of local youth in environmental conservation through projects like nesting boxes at Rosland Park.
These scouts in particular, these Eagle Scouts, think about it. They've fulfilled that triad of fulfillment that our old surgeon general Vivc Murthy talked about. Service, purpose, and building relationships.
Source document
[0:00] Well, greetings everybody. This is Jim
[0:02] Hufflin, your adina mayor, and this is
[0:04] the mayor's minute for Wednesday, July
[0:06] 9th, 2025. We got a couple of topics to
[0:09] cover today. First of all, I wanted to
[0:10] just mention the Fourth of July parade.
[0:12] The participation was just fantastic.
[0:15] And then a wonderful what they called
[0:17] the Adina Dash at the beginning.
[0:21] And we had three winners. We had Charlie
[0:24] was a male winner in his 30s, I think,
[0:26] and Nah, she won the female adult race.
[0:30] And then Daniel was a little 10-year-old
[0:32] boy who cleaned up in the kids race.
[0:34] That was just a great way to start the
[0:36] parade, which was just a wonderful
[0:37] event. So, next we're going to talk
[0:39] about Scout Troop 123, which recently
[0:42] held an Eagle Court of Honor celebration
[0:45] for four of their new Eagle Scouts.
[0:47] Please join us in congratulating
[0:48] Preston, Noah, Landon, and Noah.
[0:50] Bringing the Adina troops total to 208
[0:53] since its first inauguration of Eagle
[0:56] Scouts in 1960. Becoming an Eagle Scout
[0:58] is a seven-year journey that includes
[1:00] leadership and a service project. Each
[1:03] scout developed a proposal, project
[1:05] plan, and fundraising plan that led
[1:07] teams to execute the plans. The final
[1:10] step was writing a report with each of
[1:12] their learnings.
[1:13] Each project took 100 to 150 hours to
[1:16] complete and beneficiaries of the
[1:18] projects were the cities of Edina, the
[1:21] city of Hopkins, Edina High School
[1:23] Theater Department and the Shepherd of
[1:24] the Hills Lutheran Church. As we
[1:27] mentioned, there were four kids
[1:28] involved. Two of them are twins, Landon
[1:30] Blakesley. Uh, one of the twins
[1:32] constructed raised planter beds for
[1:34] Valley Park in Hopkins. His twin
[1:37] brother, Preston, constructed and filled
[1:39] a free little library on the Shepherd of
[1:41] the Hills church grounds. Noah Hecker
[1:44] built storage boxes for props and
[1:46] costumes for the award-winning Adina
[1:48] Theater program. And Noah Denfeld built
[1:50] wooden duckous that will soon be
[1:52] installed at Rosland Park. These wooden
[1:54] boxes are designed to mimic natural tree
[1:57] cavities and can be crucial in areas
[1:59] where natural nesting sites are scarce.
[2:01] I was proud to attend the Eagle Court of
[2:03] Honor ceremony a few weeks ago and thank
[2:05] all scouts for their service to our
[2:07] community. These scouts in particular,
[2:09] these Eagle Scouts, think about it.
[2:11] They've fulfilled that triad of
[2:13] fulfillment that our old surgeon general
[2:15] Vivc Murthy talked about. Service,
[2:17] purpose, and building relationships.
[2:19] These four guys did it in spades. There
[2:22] were something really special about what
[2:24] they've done, and we should be
[2:26] celebrating all of them. These people
[2:27] that go through that effort of becoming
[2:29] an Eagle Scout are really special,
[2:31] special young people. This is Jim
[2:33] Hufflin and that's your mayor's minute
[2:34] for Wednesday, July 9th, 2025. I hope
[2:37] you have a great rest of the week and
[2:39] look forward to this beautiful summer
[2:40] month ahead of us. See you soon.
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Other Topics from This Document
Fourth of July parade recap
Adina Dash race results
Scout Troop 123 Eagle Court of Honor celebration
Eagle Scout service project summaries
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