CLARINDA, Iowa — As a fledgling Scout, Clayton Hildreth decided that he wanted to fly with the eagles — as in the Eagle Scouts.
That's a tall order for any boy. Only about 3 percent of boys who start Scouting earn the Boy Scouts' highest rank, according to the Mid-America Council.
But Clayton had defied the odds before. At age 3, he was severely burned in a house fire in Council Bluffs. Doctors told his family he wouldn't live through the night.
He survived, although the fire left him with one eye, one ear, only one thumb and no fingers, and no toes.
And Saturday, Clayton celebrated his new rank in a ceremony that drew about 55 friends and family members to Calvary Chapel in Clarinda, Iowa.
His mom, Elizabeth Stukey, pinned on the distinctive medal — an eagle, wings spread, suspended from a red, white and blue ribbon. His scoutmaster, Kristine Price of Tarkio, Mo., presented him with his patch.
A former scoutmaster, Michael Mayne, talked about watching Clayton grow as a Scout, and about how Clayton helped him accept people with differences.
As the ceremony was ending, Clayton's niece, 3-year-old Madison Fastnacht, ran onto the stage. She was a little shaken when the crowd erupted with laughter, but Clayton took her into his arms for a hug. Later, Clayton had great fun popping balloons that were attached to the tables where cake was being served.
“To me, it's just another milestone, something else Clayton's accomplished, something we didn't know if he'd ever be able to do,” his mother said in an interview last week.
His birthday Feb. 7 was one of those milestones. “He just turned 18,” Stukey said. “It's amazing.” The family rented hotel rooms in Council Bluffs, swam and celebrated. Clayton brought along a friend from Clarinda.
Neither Stukey nor Price, who met Clayton at Scout camp shortly after he joined in 2004, are surprised he met his goal. There's a reason he was given the name “Willful Spirit” at camp.
“If you know Clayton, it's hard to be surprised by him, because he's such a determined character,” Price said. “If you don't know Clayton, I can see how people would be surprised. Whatever he chooses to do after this, he's going to do.”
Clayton recognizes that he has accomplished something not many boys do. His grandfather Warren Hildreth got him started in Scouting. Hildreth, who loved fishing and camping, died in June 2007.
“I wanted to finish because of my grandpa,” said Clayton, a junior at Clarinda High School.
That's not to say there haven't been challenges along the way. Some he's overcome with duct tape and Velcro, others with determination.
To get his archery merit badge, Clayton used Velcro to bind his right hand to the bow and pulled the string with his left, resting the bow against his leg. When it came time to fire a shotgun, he was allowed to place the gun on a tripod.
“He has to do it a little different, but there's nothing he can't do,” said Theora Stukey, his maternal grandmother. She gave him rolls of colored duct tape for Christmas.
Clayton started with a troop in Council Bluffs. He switched to one in Clarinda after he and his mom moved there about five years ago. That troop folded, so Clayton joined Troop 205 in College Springs, about 20 miles southwest of Clarinda. Just after Clayton completed his Eagle requirements in December, Troop 205 lost its charter because it didn't have enough active members. And Price, its scoutmaster, had become a full-time college student and had to resign.
But Price told Clayton she would do everything she could to help him become an Eagle. She encouraged him and helped him organize his activities.
Clayton is Price's fourth Eagle Scout as a scoutmaster. Her son, also an Eagle Scout, earned his wings in another troop. Now 25, he's serving in the Navy.
Would-be Eagles have to complete an extensive service project. Clayton made improvements to Price's parents' church in Siam, Iowa. He planned the project, secured supplies, recruited volunteers and logged hours. They landscaped, painted and installed a stair rail.
Eagle candidates also have to hike, bike or swim. Clayton can't swim or bike. So he hiked with his troopmates.
They started the hikes in October. Clayton finished his hiking in November, the others in December. They hiked through cold and wind at Waubonsie State Park — five hikes of 10 miles each and one 20-mile hike.
“They had fun, but it was hard,” Price said.
In addition to Scouting, Clayton enjoys typical teenage pursuits: playing video games, listening to music, hanging out with friends, going to the mall.
Stukey said Scouting has helped Clayton stay focused, given him something to strive for.
She's never had to push Clayton out the door for Scout activities. Instead, it's been Clayton saying, “C'mon, Mom, let's go.”
Scout officials have noticed Clayton's determination.
“He is a remarkable example to all of us,” said Lloyd Roitstein, president of the Boy Scouts of America's Mid-America Council, which covers 58 counties in Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota. “We've watched him out at camp every year and watched him grow. His positive attitude just radiates through the camp.”
Clayton said he wants to stay involved in Scouting: participate in the Venturing program for boys ages 14 to 20, become an assistant scoutmaster, pass on some of the things he's learned, help other boys achieve what he's accomplished.
“If I can do it, they can do it,” he said.
He has other things to do, too. Clayton faces reconstructive surgeries, starting with a big one, 12 hours worth, which hasn't yet been scheduled. Surgeons at Cincinnati Shriners Hospital will take some undamaged skin from his chest and graft it to his head and face so they can reconstruct his eye and mouth. Eventually, they'll transfer bone to replace a piece of missing skull.
“It all starts with this next surgery,” Stukey said.
Clayton said he's ready for it to happen. But he's nervous, as he was before Saturday's ceremony.
Next year, he'll be a senior. He wants to go to college. He thinks he wants to be a social worker, to work with kids.
“I just like helping people,” he said.
World-Herald photographer Kent Sievers contributed to this report.
Contact the writer:
444-1223, julie.anderson@owh.com
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