PRESS RELEASE

Cole Gilles to be awarded Eagle Scout rank

Eagle Court of Honor scheduled for Saturday, April 26, 2025

The highest award from the Boy Scouts of America -- the rank of Eagle Scout -- will be awarded Saturday, April 26, 2025, to a Scout in Troop 72 of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

Cole Gilles, 16, will receive the Eagle Award in a Court of Honor ceremony at 2:00 p.m. that Saturday at Chippewa Valley Bible Church, 531 E. South Ave, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. All are welcome.

Cole is the son of Gary and Elizabeth Gilles of Chippewa Falls. He is in the Class of 2027 at "Chi-Hi" (Chippewa Falls Senior High School) where he is active in jazz band, cross country, swimming, track, math club, and chemistry club, earning three varsity letters as a freshmen, not an easy feat at a competitive Division 1 school.

In Scouting, Cole has led the troop on several campouts during his term as Senior Patrol Leader, the highest position in the troop, and has also held the positions of Bugler, Patrol Leader, and Quartermaster while participating in many campouts during his five years with the troop so far.

In addition to regular campouts, Cole was the main instigator behind the troop's self-contained bike trips, where everyone carries all his camping gear, clothing, and tools on his own bike. Cole has biked with the troop (and all his gear) on a 352-mile bike trip from Chippewa Falls to La Crosse and Madison in 2023, and a 438-mile trip from Chippewa Falls to Green Bay and Milwaukee in 2024, and plans to do another long trip in June 2025.

Cole is a member of The Order of the Arrow (Scouting's "National Honor Society").

For his Eagle project, Cole led a team of Scouts in building a footbridge on the new Glen Loch Trail in Irvine Park, to allow hikers to cross a wet and muddy area below the Rumbly Bridge.

Cole works hard outside school: He started his own lawn-care business and gets a workout mowing many lawns in the area.

The public is invited to the Court of Honor Saturday to help celebrate this young man's accomplishments.

 


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