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The McCray boys – Elijah, Larry, Gilbert and Billy – of Andrews have made their parents and Scouting family proud. The three oldest are Eagle Scouts, while the youngest, Elijah, is well on his way to the highest rank in Boy Scouts of America. Photo by Samantha Sinclair
Andrews - When Tina and Anthony McCray signed up their oldest son, Billy, for Cub Scouts, they didn’t know what they were getting into.
“I thought it would be something good for him to do in his spare time,” Tina said.
About 18 years later, they have three sons who are Eagle Scouts, and another one close to earning the highest rank in Boy Scouts of America programs.
Larry McCray earned the rank in December, but Troop 401 and his family waited to celebrate the achievement with a formal Court of Honor the day after he graduated from Andrews High School. He was the only one from his troop to earn the rank this school year, and the only boy from his original Tiger Den in Cub Scouts to make it this far.
“I give credit to my parents,” Larry said. “They really helped me push through.”
Before him, his parents helped brothers Billy, now 24 and working at MOOG, and Gilbert, now 21 and a student at Western Carolina University, earn the Eagle rank in 2012 and 2015, respectively. Both Tina and Anthony served as den leaders off and on for their boys’ Cub Scout dens in Pack 401, and today Anthony is the Scoutmaster for Troop 401.
“We’re proud of them,” Tina said. “It was a lot of work.”
Billy said that work prepared him with skills he needed in college and his career. “I think they’ve done us a favor by getting us in Scouts,” Billy said.
To earn Eagle rank, a Scout must have earned at least 21 merit badges, serve the troop in a leadership role and lead a service project that benefits a group other than the Boy Scouts of America.
Even though his favorite troop activity was the hikes they’d take, Larry’s favorite merit badge to earn was the swimming badge because he learned how much he liked the activity. It also helped him get involved in other water sports.
“It introduced me to something that is a big part of my life,” he said.
For his Eagle Scout service project, Larry repaired a swing along the path in Heritage Park, as suggested by Bobby Neal, manager of Andrews recreation. The swing was originally installed by Billy seven years earlier for his Eagle Scout project.
“It had fallen into disrepair,” Larry said.
Larry led his troop in repairing the structure of the swing, plus beautifying the area with landscaping.
“It’s great,” Billy said about his brother bringing life back to his project. “It makes the swing structure useful again.”
The youngest brother, Elijah, 15, is already a Life Scout – the rank before Eagle – and is searching for a project he can lead to help the community. He’s not alone – the Andrews troop has two other Life Scouts, Senior Patrol Leader Conner Silvers and assistant senior patrol leader Gage Gillespie, who have completed all requirements for Eagle Rank except the service project requirement. All three boys welcome suggestions from the community for projects they can plan and lead.
Elijah feels some pressure to earn Eagle like his brothers before him, but his brothers are quick to point out it’s the experience of being able to help the community and just getting involved that matters the most. Gilbert added that one of the big things he has enjoyed while a Scout was helping at the Cherokee County Food Bank. Larry said he has enjoyed being able to serve as team with friends in the troop. “Scouting in general is a very worthwhile thing to do,” Larry said.
In the fall, Larry plans to major in engineering at Western.
As Elijah works toward his Eagle rank, the McCrays will not be preparing to take a break from Scouting. Their youngest child, Hannah, plans to join Cub Scouts once she starts kindergarten this fall and, as Tina noted, she could earn Eagle, too, someday.
For details about Troop 401, call Assistant Scoutmaster Jeff Mansker at 360-2900.