Nathaniel Marshall of Troop No. 259 in Brimfield recently received his Eagle Scout Award. Nathaniel's Eagle Scout project involved the community in the collection of worn American flags for retirement.

Nathaniel placed flyers and collection boxes throughout the community and collected more than 350 worn flags, which he and the troop retired in a ceremony held at Restland Cemetery on Sept. 11, 2007.

Nathaniel is a 2008 graduate of Field High School and will be attending Ohio University in Athens in the fall. He is the son of Tammy Gildersleeve of Rootstown and Jim Marshall of Barberton.

The Court of Honor was held July 13 at Sunnyhill Golf Course, where Nathaniel also works. It was attended by 80 guests, including Nathaniel's aunts, uncles and cousins from Salem, Avon Lake and Sheffield Lake, as well as Shirley Mars and David Gynn, members of the Field Local School Board.

Mark Smith, Scoutmaster of Troop No. 1 in Salem, was guest speaker. Mark is also Nathaniel's uncle, and was very encouraging as Nathaniel worked toward his Eagle rank.

Scoutmaster Mark Bergman shared that Nathaniel is the 39th Eagle from Troop No. 259, and fewer than 5 percent of all Boy Scouts make it to the coveted rank of Eagle.

Nathaniel will be attending college in the fall, but will still continue working with the troop as an assistant Scoutmaster.