Scout earns all 121 merit badges

Published: Friday, May 4, 2007 12:18 a.m. MDT
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Nationwide, only 2 percent of registered Boy Scouts earn their Eagle Scout award, the highest honor in Scouting, which requires 21 merit badges. The Boy Scouts offers 121 different merit badges, and very few Scouts nationwide have ever earned all 121 merit badges.

On April 29, Parker J. Duncan, 16, of Bountiful was awarded the last two merit badges he earned giving him all 121 merit badges. This presentation was made by Paul Moore, chief executive of the Great Salt Lake Council at a special award at a stake court of honor at the North Canyon Stake Center, 965 E. Oakwood Drive in Chelsea Cove.

Parker earned his Eagle Scout award at age 13. He is a member of the Order of the Arrow and has received Silver Moccasin youth leadership training. He attended the Boy Scout National Jamboree in Virginia in 2005. His younger brother and father also attended.

Since age 11 he has had a goal of earning all 120 merit badges. Since then, Scouting added the composite materials merit badge, which he enjoyed learning about and earning recently. To earn the merit badge, he worked with a dentist and made a filling and a crown.

His interest in Scouting began at the age of 3 when his dad was a Scoutmaster and he had his own Scout shirt with a few patches sewn on. He watched with keen interest as his mom sewed those patches on.

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Parker, a junior at Bountiful High School, is a member of service clubs Key Club and PTSA Association. He has a 3.95 grade-point average and also is a member of the National Honor Society, National Honor Roll and National Society of High School Scholars.

Parker is in his third year of playing the oboe in the Utah Youth Symphony and studies under Utah Symphony principal oboist Robert Stephenson.

Parker was nominated for and attended the National Youth Leadership Forum for Medicine at Georgetown University last summer and is interested in pursuing a career in medicine or dentistry.

Parker enjoys snowboarding, golfing, skateboarding and reading.

Some of the most difficult, yet rewarding merit badges he has earned are archeology, backpacking and cycling.

Parker is the son of Michael and Laura Duncan, who said they are proud of his tenacity, motivation and hard work.

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Boy Scout Parker Duncan
Boy Scout Parker Duncan