Photo by Samantha Davis Augie Sturrock stood in the gaga ball pit he built for his final Eagle Scout community service project at True Light Christian School Friday afternoon in Marshall surrounded by students.

MARSHALL — Family and community members held great smiles while students showed their eager excitement as Augie Sturrock of Marshall officially opened and showcased his final Eagle Scout project of a gaga ball pit at True Light Christian School on a radiantly sunny Friday afternoon.

Earning an Eagle Rank is the highest accolade one can achieve in Boy Scouts. To do so requires years of work and service to collect 21 total merit badges that range from various disciplines like physical fitness, outdoors skills, citizenship, personal responsibility and more. To earn Eagle Rank, all scouts must complete a community service project.

“Augie did a great job of coming to the school board, and coming to the church here, and saying, ‘Hey, I’m going to do this project. What do you think about contributing some funds?’ “ True Light Principal Zach Schubert said. “He got a, ‘Why don’t you fundraise for it’ answer. Augie has done that, so I just want to give him a lot of credit for doing that and stepping into that additional role.”

Sturrock went to True Light from preschool through eighth grade, and currently attends Marshall High School and will be graduating in the spring.

Taking a fond childhood memory and turning it into a way to give back to his roots is what Sturrock did for his final Eagle Scout project.

Now in True Light’s yard, which doesn’t currently have a playground, sits a gaga ball pit for local kids and students to enjoy. The pit is fenced in and made from wood in the shape of an octagon, and sits a couple inches above the ground on a platform.

“I was looking at doing something (for his Eagle Scout project) to benefit True Light, because I went here, so I wanted to give back,” Sturrock said. “This (gaga ball) was something that I’ve enjoyed since fifth grade when I was in scout camps … I knew kids loved this game and they would really enjoy having this here.”

The idea of gaga ball is similar to dodgeball. Players try to be the last one standing and avoid being hit with a soft foam ball on or below the knee.

“I know when I was here, I would have loved having a gaga ball pit during lunch or recess,” Sturrock said. “So, I thought it was perfect. It combines what I loved in the past and gives back to the school.”

Several people were in attendance to support Sturrock including his mother Gwen, father David, his younger brother Alex along with his aunt, True Light school faculty, other community members and Marshall Mayor Bob Byrnes.

“I’ve known the (Sturrock) family since before Augie was born,” Byrnes said. “It’s a great project, and very impressive. Just the craftsmanship that has gone into this is so impressive. Obviously, the kids all like playing this game.”

True Light students were gathered around the pit during Sturrock’s ribbon cutting, and immediately jumped in afterward to start playing gaga ball. After the presentation and their recess began, a group of students came back to play more, already showing love and interest to the new addition.

“Once we got done with the base part, it was a lot easier,” Sturrock said about the building process. “Just laying down the wood basically and making it.”

Sturrock first started the project in late August and finished the pit on Nov. 9. He had to get the dirt leveled out first, then built the wooden octagon to set the foundation and went up from there.

Through the years, Sturrock went on service trips while completing his merit badges, participated in camps and built memories through it all. He’s been in Cub Scouts since the first grade, moved up to Boy Scouts in fifth grade and has been involved from there on.

“I think the summer camps every year were always the best highlight,” Sturrock said. “Playing gaga ball, hanging out with friends in Boy Scouts, camping out for a week — That’s probably the highlights every year.”

The Sturrock family has four generations of Eagle Scouts, which Gwen and David take honor in.

“It’s a big part of our family. My granddad was a scout in Scotland as a young teenager,” David said. “It’s a very long thread of connections.”

David also said family cousins, grandparents and himself all are Eagle Scouts, in addition to Alex and Augie. Alex will be taking on his project next year for his Rank.

“The Boy Scout organization is a good way to help teach and model service, learn a lot of life skills, a lot of outdoor skills, but also teach a lifetime of service, which I think is important,” Gwen said. “It’s important to be serving your community … Boy Scouts really allows you to tie a lot of different things together, from service and learning skills and including faith.”

Sturrock will be finishing up a few smaller obligations before officially earning his Eagle Rank in a few months, but he will now carry the pride in knowing that his community service project will have a lasting impact for area kids and his former school for years to come.