FLEMING ISLAND – They built bat houses, animal food donation boxes, life jacket borrow and return stations, a ramp to a swimming pool, GaGa ball pits, an equipment shed for a soccer team, bike racks and a gazebo at Rob Bradley Conservation Park.

Together, there were 32 such projects to benefit Northeast Florida last year – all as final service projects to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.

On Saturday night, they will be honored at the Bartram Trail Class of 2025 Recognition Banquet at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church’s Sullivan Hall. The reception is at 6 p.m., while dinner starts at 6:30.

The Bartram district comprises troops from Clay, Putnam and Bradford counties, but the recognition is top-heavy with 27 Eagles from Clay.

Included in the group are Alex Heagle, a graduate of Fleming Island High, who built two bat houses at Ronnie Van Zant Park; Cody Adler of Oakleaf High, who built a concrete dumpster pad and privacy fence for Good Samaritan Anglican Church; Andrew Staten, a graduate of St. Johns Country Day School, who built a new food donation box and ramp to the dog pool at the Safe Animal Shelter; and Brady Stutsman, a graduate of Oakleaf High, who built an equipment shed for the girls’ soccer team at Annunciation Catholic School in Middleburg.

During the reception, all will receive their Eagle neckerchief, declaration and awards from several civic and governmental groups.

But more than anything else, they will have ended their quest that few achieve. An estimated 5% of all scouts make it to the Eagle rank. They will join others, like only one president, Gerald R. Ford, who became an Eagle for life.