Teen keeps family streak alive with Eagle Scout win

VALRICO — Scouting was always in Chris Lemons' blood.

Three generations of men before him on his mother's side won the Eagle Scout award: his great-grandfather, grandfather and uncle. Now it was his turn to work for the most prestigious Boy Scout award.

He spent a summer clearing an overgrown part of Cimino Elementary's playground so the kids could have a shady place to play. And after a year of filing paperwork and waiting, he was handed the award.

He felt relieved at the recent ceremony. "I've been in Scouts my whole entire life, and this was the pinnacle of what I'd been working for," he said.

Lemons, a senior at Bloomingdale High School, stood in front of his project site, flipping through a family Scouting album with his father.

There are yellowing pictures of his great-grandfather and grandfather in uniform. Another shows his grandfather teaching him archery at a Boy Scout camp when he was only waist-high.

His grandfather encouraged Chris, his mother, Dawn Lemons, said. "He would congratulate him every time he moved up in a different rank," she said.

The Scouting tradition was passed down through her side of the family, and she hopes it continues.

To get the highest award in Boys Scouts, Lemons knew he wanted to do something for a local school. He saw that the playground clearing at Cimino was slated for the county's 2010 budget, but he thought he'd take care of it in 2007.

With the help of a Bobcat to clear the thick vines, a chainsaw to clear out the saplings and four Boy Scout troops of volunteers, he carved out a shaded play area.

Lemons plans to go to college in Florida to study pre-med or pre-law. And one day, if he has a son, he hopes he'll get into Scouting.

"It's a great program," he said.

Jessica Vander Velde can be reached at jvandervelde@sptimes.com or (813) 661-2443.