An Eagle Scout ceremony was held Saturday, June 23, at the Bedford Town Hall to recognize Eagle Scouts Zachery Ruppel, Sage Belanger and Daniel Baker.

About 130 people attended the event on a hot Saturday afternoon, upstairs in the theater room.

After the ceremony, presentations were made by VFW Post 8401, the Marine Corps League, and state Sen. Ray White, R-Bedford, who presented New Hampshire state flags. U.S. flags were presented to each Scout on behalf of U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte.

Zachery Ruppel

Ruppel’s Eagle Scout project was to build two movable workbenches for Camp Allen.

Camp Allen is a nonprofit organization that provides a camp for kids with special needs and extraordinary challenges. Camp Allen is unique in the camping world. Counselors arrive from across the globe to provide campers with an intensive level of attention, support and encouragement.

Ruppel chose Camp Allen because it had always been a favorite campsite for him while camping with Troop 414. He felt it was time to give back to the place that had given him so many good memories of his Scouting experience.

When delivering the workbenches, Ruppel was able to donate a check to help purchase tools and equipment to be used with the workbenches because his fundraising surpassed expectations.

The workbenches went into the new maintenance building, which now provides the utility workers with a safe place to work.

Sage Belanger

Belanger built a footbridge at Peter Woodbury School for his Eagle Scout project. The school needed a bridge to span a riverbed and complete its footpath around the playground and outdoor garden.

Belanger is considering a career in engineering, so the project allowed him to explore this option while designing the 12-foot-long bridge.

The project required two fundraisers, a car wash at the school and selling hot dogs at Sam’s Club one day in May when the temperature reached 90 degrees.

One of the requests made by the school was that the bridge look very natural and blend in with the surrounding area. Belanger purchased rough-sawn lumber and used that to construct the balusters and the trellis to help give the bridge that natural feel.

The project took three days to complete, and with the help of many fellow Scouts and adult leaders, a bridge was built.

Belanger had enough money remaining to purchase two chainsaw-carved bears, one that is attached to the entrance of the bridge and one that calls the school library his home. This bridge has become known at the school as The Peter Wood “Beary” Bridge because of these bears. The project was completed in fall 2010.

The bridge has become a place for school ceremonies as a symbolic crossover as the children grow.

Daniel Baker

Baker’s Eagle Scout project was to build a reading library and resource center at Maple Leaf Healthcare Center, a nursing home in Manchester.

Baker chose this project after volunteering and working three summers at Maple Leaf and developing a passion for helping the elderly.

To start, Baker held a fundraiser at Sam’s Club selling hot dogs. He then began construction on a 5-foot by 4-foot by 11/2-foot bookcase with the help of Don Bell.

Next, Baker held a book drive within the troop to fill the bookcase. He collected almost 700 books.

Finally, Daniel created the resource center, which was a key part of the project. The resource center contained a binder with brochures and pamphlets from local health care organizations, medical supply companies and health care associations.

In addition, the resource center had a collection of specialized books on a wide range of topics, from how to deal with the loss of a loved one to how to manage arthritis pain.

The project provides the residents of the nursing home and their families easy access to information regarding senior health care issues, as well as a library for the residents to enjoy.