More than a decade ago, Mark McCarty promised his Cub Scouts that if they put in the work, he would help to make sure they would earn their Eagle Awards.
It's the highest award in Scouting. Only 8 percent of Scouts make it that far.
On Sunday, Conner Hull, one of those Scouts who was there when McCarty made his promise, was working on his Eagle project along with several others at Woodland-Old City Cemetery.
One of his helpers was McCarty, the assistant scoutmaster for Troop 4, affiliated with St. Peter Church.
McCarty said when one of his Scouts earns an Eagle Award, it's a tribute to them, not him. While they are Scouts, he's long referred to them as "Eagles in training."
"It's been life-changing to watch these kids' lives," McCarty said.
Hull, a junior at Capital City High School, came up with an Eagle project to clean the cemetery, including scraping down fences, priming, painting and cleaning headstones.
He decided to do the project after learning not all of the burial plots had family to take care of them.
"I just thought it would be a good idea for me to clean up and take care of them and kind of respect their families," he said.
On Sunday, five Scouts and six adults were helping him.
Hull said his project will probably take more than 100 hours.
Of the three people remaining in McCarty's den when he started as a Scout leader, all are in the process of earning their Eagle awards.
"I'm a pretty lucky guy that I've at least been a part of it," he said.