2015 class of Eagle Scouts recognized in Kansas City ceremony

The 907 young men sitting in the front rows of Kansas City’s Music Hall on Sunday contributed more than 122,000 hours of community service through their Eagle Scout projects in the Heart of America Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

They, and their families that supported them, packed the hall for the presentation of the 2015 Eagle Scout class.

“Eagle Scouts in the 2015 Donald Hall Jr. Eagle class, congratulations on this crowning achievement of your scouting career,” said Scott Boswell, Heart of America Council president and an Eagle Scout from the class of 1978.

“You are our future,” Boswell continued. “You may choose business, medicine, law, education, engineering, public service or so many other life works. What your parents and I know is that you have a foundation that is second to none.”

The presentation continued a tradition that saw nearly 20,600 Eagle Scouts receive their badges at the Music Hall from 1937 to 1979. The tradition was revived in 2012.

Zane Schafer, Eagle Scout of Troop 1332 of the First United Methodist Church of Blue Springs, received the Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award.

Zane’s project was for special-needs preschoolers and students at Liggett Trail Education Center in Blue Springs. He contributed almost 300 hours of community service to make soccer goals for preschoolers and sensory boards that were accessible to students in wheelchairs.

Myrl Wear, scoutmaster of Troop 93 of Shawnee United Methodist Church, received the Paul D. Arend Distinguished Scoutmaster Award.

Hall, president and chief executive of Hallmark Cards Inc., was the 2015 Eagle Scout class honoree. His grandfather, Hallmark founder Joyce C. Hall, was the 1961 Eagle Scout class honoree.

“I want to tell you how incredibly honored I am to be invited today to witness such an important moment in so many people’s lives and indeed our community,” Don Hall said. “As I look out on the crowd gathered here today, there’s only one word that comes to mind as I look into your faces, and that’s pride.”

The Heart of America Council encompasses 19 counties in and around the Kansas City area.

This story was originally published February 21, 2016 at 6:10 PM with the headline "2015 class of Eagle Scouts recognized in Kansas City ceremony."