FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 15, 2026
For more information:
Alison Harrison, Marketing and Communications Director
James Parnell, Scout Executive
Virginia Beach, Va. – Christopher Beale, an Eagle Scout from Virginia Beach, was awarded the 2025 Scouting America Tidewater Council Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year. He was a 17-year-old member of Scouts BSA Troop 364, chartered by Bayside Presbyterian Church in Virginia Beach, when he completed the project.
For his Eagle Scout project, Christopher led the installation of a rain garden and a vegetated swale at Foundry United Methodist Church in Virginia Beach, to address ongoing flooding and stormwater runoff. Surrounded by impervious concrete surfaces that redirect water onto the church property, the site frequently experienced pooling and runoff that carried debris into local storm drains and waterways.
Christopher’s project centered on redirecting stormwater into a 20’ x 20’ rain garden. When full, excess water now flows through a planted swale where native trees and perennials help absorb and filter runoff before it reaches the drain.
Christopher designed an 8-foot-long wooden bridge to span the swale, providing a safe pedestrian passage and preventing vehicles from crossing the area. He recruited five volunteers to construct the bridge.
After Lynnhaven River NOW completed excavation through grant funding, Christopher organized the rain garden and tree-planting phase. He led 43 volunteers in placing soil and rock, planting twenty 8-foot trees, installing more than 200 native, non-invasive plants, spreading mulch, and positioning the bridge. He coordinated logistics, ensured all volunteers had roles, and emphasized safety throughout the project.
This sustainable solution will help prevent property damage, reduce polluted runoff, and protect the area’s surrounding watershed for years to come.
Beale’s project has been submitted to the Scouting America Council Service Territory 15 as Tidewater Council’s Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year. He was honored at the Scouting America Tidewater Council Recognition Banquet on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, at the Khedive Shrine Center in Chesapeake, Virginia.
Isabelle Dickamore, whose Eagle Scout project was designing and constructing a pollinator garden at Great Bridge Primary School in Chesapeake, received honorable mention for Tidewater Council’s Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year. She is a member of Scouts BSA Troop 800, chartered by St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Chesapeake.
About the Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award
The National Eagle Scout Association established the Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award to recognize valuable service of an exceptional nature by a Scout to a religious institution, a school, community, or other entity.
This national award recognizes the Scout for their Eagle Scout service project. Each local council chooses a council-level winner; Council Service Territory 15 (CST 15) will pick a CST-level recipient from the pool of council winners in the territory comprising 19 Scouting America councils in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. A national winner will be chosen from the finalists from Council Service Territories 1 through 16.
About Scouting America Tidewater Council
Established in 1911, Tidewater Council is the fifth oldest Scouting America council in the United States. Today, the council serves approximately 4,000 youth and 1,700 adult volunteers in the Virginia cities of Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach, and the North Carolina counties of Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Pasquotank, and Perquimans. To learn more about Tidewater Council or to sign your child up for Scouting, visit TidewaterBSA.com, email [email protected], or call 757-497-2688.
About Scouting America
Scouting America provides the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared. For Life.®”
Scouting America welcomes all of America’s youth into its programs. Scouting aims to give them fantastic experiences in the outdoors, and elsewhere, where they can grow in a safe environment. More than 130 million Americans have participated in Scouting’s programs since its founding. Today, almost one million youth are served by 500,000 adult volunteers in local councils throughout the country.
To learn more about Scouting America’s mission, or to sign your child up for Scouting, visit BeAScout.org.
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