All of Tom and Rachelle Marsh's sons will soon be Eagle Scouts.

Their youngest, Jacob, 16, just completed his Eagle project at the historic Bobcean Stable in Flat Rock.

Older brothers and twins, Samuel and Jack, 20, completed their projects in 2018 at Community Park in Flat Rock. Samuel built a giant chess game. Jack built benches near the chess game.

The Eagle is Boy Scout's highest honor.

“I was in Scouts briefly as a child, but I never made it to Eagle. I am an assistant scoutmaster currently,” dad Tom of Flat Rock said. “My wife and I have been adult leaders the whole time all of our kids have been in Scouts. Rachelle was treasurer when our kids were in Cubs and headed up the kitchen. She made beautiful desserts for Scout functions.”

When it came time for Jacob's Eagle project, he wanted to restore something historic. So, he met with the Flat Rock Historical Society.

His original plan was to refurbish the caboose at Community Park off Gibraltar Rd. The park houses several historic buildings, including the Lang-Wagar House, Munger General Store, Smith Hotel and the Bobcean Stable.

“Unfortunately, there were severe delays getting the supplies, and that didn’t work out. However, the society had great need for artifact storage shelving in the Bobcean Stable,” Bruce Chapin, president of the Flat Rock Historical Society, said.

Jacob not only built shelves, but made the attic area a little safer. 

“(The project) entailed building a wall of shelves on the second floor of our Bobcean Stable. The Bobcean Stable was built about 1860 and had been disassembled, moved across town, rebuilt on the museum campus and restored by the society in 1997,” Chapin said. “There were many structural deficiencies to overcome. One stumbling block was a dangerously narrow staircase that is the only access to the second level of the building. Jacob built a safety railing around the stairwell to the second floor to make accessing the upper level safer.”

The project cost $310.62 for lumber and hardware.

“Jacob raised the money by selling meat sticks,” Tom said.

Assisting Jacob on the build were his dad, Chapin, his brothers, scoutmaster John Sheets, fellow Boy Scouts from Troop 568 of Flat Rock and other adults.

Chapin is pleased with the work.

“The project was a resounding success and was completed over a five-day period,” Chapin said. “My goal for the project was not only to help Jacob build the much-needed shelving, but to showcase the museum campus and improve the Flat Rock Historical Society's visibility in the community.”

The Flat Rock Historical Society hopes to use the shelves to organize items that are not currently on display.

"The area where the shelves were built will be used for artifact storage. The lower level of the stable has become a mess, as there are too many artifacts are on display.  The shelves built will house the artifacts not currently on exhibit in an orderly fashion," Lesley Harkai, curator of collections for the Flat Rock Historical Museum, said.

Jacob also is happy with the completed project.

"Jacob is very pleased and proud with how the project turned out. He is very happy about the safety guardrail that will help protect people from falling into the stairwell," Tom said.

Jacob will be a senior at Flat Rock High School in the fall.

“He is academically in the top of his class and a member of the National Honor Society. He also plays tuba in the marching band and is on the varsity golf team,” Tom said.

He’s been in scouting since first grade.

“Troop 568 of Flat Rock is the only troop in the district north of Monroe County,” Tom said. “Scout participation is way down in recent years, in large part due to COVID. If anyone is interested in checking out our troop, call our scoutmaster at (734) 778-2653,” Tom said.