By CAROLYN CARY
ccary@thecitizennews.com

At least a dozen Boy Scouts in Fayette County have earned their Eagle Scout rank by cleaning up cemeteries.

Erik Walton, 17, Peachtree City Troop 209, chose one of the more mysterious ones in the county. It is at the top of a ridge in Planterra Ridge. There are at least 30 grave sites in it, but none have gravestones.

One of the owners of the property in years past, the late W. Tucker Penson, said that as far as he knew, in all the years he lived on the property there were never any burials in this century. Other area natives also are unaware of any family names associated with the site.

Walton has been in Scouting for 12 years and his troop is sponsored by Saint Andrew's-in-the-Pines Episcopal Church. Dave Dale serves as scoutmaster.

He enlisted the aid of fellow troop members Brent Moore, Alex Hermann, Drew Dolan, Brad Plunkett, Darryl Walton, Justin Cook, Ryan Cook and Jacob Byers, who came over from Troop 603 to help out.

Once his project is completed, Walton must submit a report documenting numbers of helpers and hours spent, as well as donations received for equipment, etc. It will then go before the local Eagle Board of Review, made up of senior Scout leaders and troop leaders.

He will then appear before a review board and the application will be forwarded to Boy Scout national headquarters for a final decision.