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The path to Eagle was a journey begun long ago

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Maureen Steer smiles as she looks back to get another emblem to pin on her son, Stephen as his dad, Paul Steer looks on Sunday at Stephen Steer's installment as Eagle Scout. (The Lebanon Voice photos)

COPYRIGHT 2017© MILTON - His Eagle project may have been a hiking trail, but for Stephen Steer of Milton, the road to the highest Boy Scout honor was more a pilgrimage than a walk in the woods, a rite of passage that began years ago in elementary school as a Cub Scout Tiger.

That journey came to fruition on Sunday amid pomp and circumstance during an installation steeped in tradition at Milton's American Legion Hall as Steer accepted the prestigious Eagle Award from his Troop #155 leader Dave Barca.

After accepting the award, congratulations from New Hampshire National Guardsman Scott Taatjes and congratulatory letters from U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan among others, a humbled Steer took to the podium to thank his parents, Paul and Maureen Steer; his Scoutmaster and even his little brother First Class Boy Scout Matthew Steer, for their part in his journey to Eagle.

Fellow Scouts recite the "Trail to Eagle," from left, Scout Keigan Noseworth (partially obscured), Tenderfoot Troy Jacobs, 2nd Class Adam Miliken, 1st Class Matthew Steer, Star Zach Gerard and Life David Barca Jr.

From Tiger to Wolf to Webelo as a Cub Scout and then Tenderfoot, Second- and Third-Class and Life Scout and all the merit badge requirements in between, he noted it was a long haul, but one that he thoroughly enjoyed for both its highs (making lasting friendships) and lows, quipping jokingly, "When we hit Boy Scouts and had to cook our own food."

But when it came time to decide on an Eagle project, Steer was all business. He decided to build a kiosk and signage for a hiking trail across the road from the New Hampshire Farm Museum, a job that took hundreds of hours in planning and building before it was completed.

Now that Steer has achieved the most coveted Scout honor, he joins the ranks of some of America's most famous leaders, explorers and inventors who are also Eagle Scouts, including first-on-the-moon astronaut Neil Armstrong, President Gerald Ford and U.S. Attorney General William Sessions.

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