Brothers honor father's wish, earn Eagle Scout badges

Brothers Carter Arnold, 16, and Bridger Arnold, 13 were awarded their Eagle Scout badges from their Scout Master, Dr. Jim Nelson, D.D.S., at a ceremony on Oct. 8 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Worland.

The boys both climbed through six Scout ranks before Eagle Scout and acquired at minimum 14 required silver badges and seven gold elective badges.

On reaching this goal at such a young age, Bridger said, “There’s a certain number of kids like me who are determined to get it done fast, but I don’t really know how many. I do know that most Eagle Scouts earn it when they are 17.”

Carter’s Eagle Service Project was to tear down old fence at Riverside Park and pile it up for the city to remove, and Bridger’s was to volunteer at Safe Community Day and help children make safety cards.

The two were both involved in Scouts – starting with Cub Scouts – when they were 8, and could have gotten their Eagle badges even earlier if not for the COVID-19 pandemic putting a halt to Scout activities for a while. Bridger started most of his work toward Eagle Scout after the pandemic, but Carter had everything done but his Eagle Service Project and had to wait.

The brothers were introduced to Boy Scouts by their father Quintal, who also became an Eagle Scout in his youth. He accompanied the boys and their troop everywhere they went, up until he fell ill and passed away in June. Bridger recalled the time he spent with his father in Scouts, remembering a particular snowmobiling trip. He said, “Dr. Nelson was leading the way as always, and our dad was the experienced snowmobiler in the back who stopped and helped if anybody got stuck. That’s just how he was.”

Bridger said of his father’s influence, “He wanted us to get our Eagle Scout badges because it’s an awesome accomplishment. Both of our parents did; but ultimately, we did this for ourselves. We never really thought about stopping after he passed away.”

Carter added, “We also knew from our dad’s experience that there are a lot of opportunities available through Scouts.”

The process of earning their badges behind them, Bridger said, “It’s almost a relief. There’s a lot of stuff to do, especially lots of paperwork, that goes with an Eagle Service Project.” Carter added, “Now that we have it, I just want to continue getting merit badges because I have a lot of fun doing it, and I get to try new things that I might like and maybe want to get a job in later.”

The brothers already have their sights set on their next goal, which is earning palms. Palms are optional accolades that signify the wearer has completed extra merit badges. A bronze palm signifies five extra badges, a gold palm signifies 10, and a silver palm takes 15. Of course, they both plan to earn silver palms.

When asked who would get silver palms first, Bridger was quick to point out that he is two badges ahead of his brother. Carter sighed, “He’s a bit more into it than I am.”