ANDOVER — Daniel Bradley said it took him a long eight years to earn his Eagle Scout badge.
But he barely completed the paperwork a few weeks shy of his 18th birthday when he would have become ineligible.
Bradley, now a freshman at Boston University, said a heavy schedule of class work and extracurricular activities at Central Catholic High School in Lawrence prolonged his pursuit of Boy Scouting's highest honor.
But the long-time member of Haverhill Boy Scout Troop 1 said he wasn't about to squander the most significant opportunity of his young life.
"To be in scouting for so long and not reach the end would have been a huge letdown," Bradley said last night as he joined more than 400 people at the Wyndham Boston Andover hotel at the Yankee Clipper Council's annual Eagle Scout recognition banquet.
Bradley was one of 178 boys from the Valley and Southern New Hampshire being honored for earning the Eagle rank over the past year.
"Eagle Scout is something you can put on every resume and enhances you as a person and instills these great values that carry you through life," Bradley said.
"The most important thing I got out of my years in scouting were developing confidence to be a leader in society and to try my best to do everything I can to make a difference - to help other people and make the world a better place," he said.
Haverhill's Troop 1 had five Eagles recognized, adding to a list of some 100 recipients in the 95-year-history of one of the council's oldest Boy Scout units.
The council includes troops from 52 communities in Essex County and Southern New Hampshire and numbers more than 8,600 boys.
"The Eagle badge is known all over the world," said Don Milligan, 72, of Andover, scoutmaster of Troop 76.
He earned his Eagle badge in 1952 and later had two sons who went onto earn the Eagle rank for one of Andover's oldest units. Boy Scouting will celebrate its 100th birthday next month.
"Parents like their daughters to have Eagles as boyfriends. The military gives a higher pay grade for those who are Eagles. It's quite an honor," he said.
This year's Eagle Scout class was recognized in honor of Richard E. Becker of Haverhill, an Eagle and long-time member of Troop 1 who has devoted 75 years of his life to scouting.
Becker became a scout in 1934 and attended the first National Jamboree held in Washington D.C., at the invitation of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Becker was unable to attend, as he is in Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital.
Last night's guest speaker was Maj. Jonathan Belmont, the Northeast Regional Commander for West Point's Directorate of Admissions.
After obtaining the Eagle Scout Award, he enlisted in the Rhode Island National Guard as an AH-1 Cobra helicopter crew chief in 1994 and then was selected to attend the U.S. Military Academy.
He graduated from West Point in 1999 with a bachelor's in aeronautical engineering and later edarned a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University.
The local Eagle Scouts include:
Amesbury: Alexander Durocher and Matthew McBride - Troop 7.
Andover: Matthew Dorros and Matthew Quartararo - Troop 73; Nicholas Vitale - Troop 75; Barrett Flynn, Dennis Hacker, Thomas Huntley and Maxwell Tonks - Troop 76; Jacob Gostanian, Charles Nickerson and Patrick Sullivan - Troop 77; Matthew Cheney, Nicholas Stapczynski, David Hathaway, Eric Lee, Joseph McKain, Andrew Osborne and James Tornatore Troop 79;
Atkinson, N.H.: Patrick Linehan - Troop 9
Boxford: Nicholas Bassett, Peter Benson, Nicholas Defossez, Jake London, Brian Nichols and Steven Tyler - Troop 51,
Georgetown: Matthew Arnold, Tyler Carlson, Matthew Cronin, Daniel Noelk and Michael Smith - Troop 51.
Groveland: Colby Hurd and Jason Sample - Troop 87.
Haverhill: Daniel Bradley, Calvin Ebinger, Brian Finn, Matthew Kirkham and Christopher Navien - Troop 1; Kevin Callahan - Troop 12,
Hampstead, N.H.: Ryan Jutras and David Lechner - Troop 33
Merrimac: Connor Tribble - Troop 41,
Methuen: Robert Filteau and Alexander Moran - Troop 51; Jeremy Hall,Thomas Kierstead, John Mosley. Jacob Smith and Michael Sprague - Troop 53; James Pehl and Matthew Pehl - Troop 60; Charles Bruderer - Troop 96
Middleton: David Florance - Troop 19,
North Andover: Jeffrey Carlson, Robert Carlson and Timothy Smedile - Troop 81; Matthew Cavallaro and Joseph Messina - Troop 87.
Plaistow, N.H.: Branden Birmingham and Christopher Negrotti - Troop 18,
West Newbury: Erik Slettehaugh - Troop 26
