Boy Scout Troop 224 held a special Court of Honor to present the families of Trey Pritchard and Jeffrey Grafton with memoirs from a recent flag retirement ceremony. Both men had been Scouts as youth and achieved the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout. Jeffrey Grafton was also a member of Scouting’s Honor Society, Order of the Arrow.
At the suggestion of Assistant Scout Master Jimmy Fretz, who grew up with Pritchard and Grafton, the Troop dedicated flags to their honor at a recent retirement ceremony. Following the retirement of the flags the boys gathered the grommets from the ashes to present to the families. At Monday night’s Court of Honor family members were presented with photos of the retirement and the grommets to remember the men who were murdered in August.
Scout Master Andrew Lynam and Fretz presented the memoirs to the families of Jeff Grafton and Trey Pritchard. Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Grafton, Sr. and Jeff’s children Jonathan, Emily & Megan, Mr. and Mrs. Leon Pritchard, Trey’s widow Cari, and Officer Todd Lawrence of the Sapulpa Police Department were present at the ceremony.
Flag retirement is one of the many citizenship and life skills young men learn in Scouting. The training of Boy Scouts is recognized by the United States Military in that those who have attained the rank of Eagle receive an automatic pay grade increase upon enlistment. Boy Scouts is for young men ages 10-18, boys 1st through 5th grade are in Cub Scouts.
If you have an American flag you would like to have properly retired the Troop will be glad to do so for you. Troop 224 meets on Monday nights at 7pm First Presbyterian Church Sapulpa. You may contact Scoutmaster Andrew Lynam at lynam3dad@gmail.com
