Eagle Scout continues long tradition
SHAWNEE, Kansas — Graham Kaseman Cannon, 17, was upholding a long family tradition with its roots in Butler County when he received his Eagle Scout award last month in Shawnee.
He is the son of Gus and Vicki Shields Cannon.
Graham's great-grandfather, Carl E. Shields, received his Eagle Scout award in 1925 when there were less than 11,000 Eagle Scouts.
His grandfather, Ed Shields of Butler, receivedhis Eagle Scout award in 1952 while a member of Troop 1 sponsored by the Butler YMCA.
Graham's uncle, Carl E. Shields II, Ed Shields' son, received his Eagle Scout award in 1983 as a member of Butler Troop 5 sponsored by Trinity Lutheran Church.
The latest Eagle honor makes Graham the fourth generation of his family to earn Scouting's highest honor.
Graham said he was upholding the family legacy by pursuing the Eagle Scout award.
“It is the highest rank in Boy Scouts. My grandfather had wanted me to do this for a long time, pushed me to get involved in Scouts,” he said.
“My mother kind of pushed me toward it. My grandpa told me a little bit more about the history and got me involved,” he said.
“He told me about the history of the family, and he said 'You are going to be the fourth generation.' It took me a lot of hard work and I did it. It was worth it,” Graham said.
“To be an Eagle Scout, you need 26 merit badges, and attain all the ranks up to Eagle, and then this project and a board of review,” he said.
Graham's project was a drive-through book drive which gathered 2,791 books and $785 in donations to buy more books for the nonprofit Building a Book Shelf organization.
Building a Book Shelf provides books to children and young adults who do not have any reading material and to places such as the emergency waiting area at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.“The project requirements are it has to be a nonprofit, and you have to do a cause,” Graham said. “This was my cause because I loved books, and I've been reading books forever.“It was May 4, my grandfather's birthday. It was kind of like a gift to him that I did my project,” he said.“It was from 8 a.m. to noon. We made sure we dropped off the books about noon that was the end of the project.“We had a tent set up and you had tables in there,” he said. “We had Scouts sorting children's books, adult books, books to be sold to Half Price Books to give the money back to foundation.”His grandfather, a Butler Realtor, is pleased the Eagle Scout rank has been achieved by a new generation of his family.“Well, Scouting has so many advantages for young men, learning experiences and leadership training and being able to work with other people and communicate with them,” said Shields.Graham agreed.“From being a Scout, I learned how to appreciate what I have. It helped me become a man, helped me to take care of myself and be more independent,” he said.“And then attaining Eagle Scout, that's a long project,” Graham said. “It taught me you have to keep going at it. It taught me to learn from my mistakes and keep pushing forward.”Shields attended the November installation ceremony of his grandson.Graham was the 155th Eagle Scout awarded in Troop 93 under his scoutmaster Myrl Wear, whose troop Graham joined in 2007.“Only five percent of Scouts attain the Eagle award,” said Shields.Shields said to have four generations do so was “really amazing.”“I'd have to attribute that to my dad, he looked ahead at things,” said Shields.Graham is a senior at Mill Valley High School in Shawnee, where he has played football for four years.He plans to attend the University of Kansas in fall 2014 and pursue studies in education and film.“We were quite proud of him we were so happy that he did such a good program,” said Shields.“I would like to see a fifth generation. I would love to see that happen,” Shields added.
