Elasmar earns Eagle Scout rank

Salim N. Elasmar

Salim N. Elasmar received his Eagle Scout award during a Court of Honor held at East Ridge Recreation Center. He is the 32nd Scout to achieve Eagle status in Troop 43, based at Dalewood Middle School, according to Scoutmaster Larry E. Bowie.

The son of Ahmad N. and Shauna J. Elasmar, the scout is a graduate of East Ridge High School and is a freshman majoring in aerospace engineering at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

For the community service project required of every Eagle Scout, he designed and built a teaching fruit orchard with members of his troop to be used as a hands-on guide by teachers at East Lake Elementary School. The orchard teaches students about various types of fruit and promotes the value of eating fruit as part of a healthy lifestyle.

Warren to conduct drum and bugle corps

Berry College musician David Warren has been chosen as head conductor of the Phantom Regiment Corps for its 2014 season.

Phantom Regiment (also called The Regiment) is one of 23 competitive drum and bugle corps that are members of Drum Corps International World Class. Students in the corps will travel all summer to DCI competitions across the country.

Warren, a music education major from Carrolton, Ga., was selected after an audition process with 50 other members.

The trombone player is a member of the Berry Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, Brass Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, Concert Choir and is manager of Ford Auditorium on the Berry campus. This will be his third consecutive year as a member of The Regiment, and he was an assistant conductor in the corps in 2012.

Phantom Regiment, founded in 1956, is based in Rockford, Ill. It won world championships in 1996 and 2008. Its 2014 program is titled Swan Lake, and rehearsals begin this month.

For information on performances, go to www.dci.org.

Hedrick studies in Greece

Kyle Hedrick of Ooltewah recently returned from a three-month study at Harding University in Greece.

As part of the curriculum, students had the opportunity to take a Mediterranean cruise and visit historic sites in the Peloponnese and Northern regions of Greece, as well as Turkey and Israel. The group lived in the town of Porto Rafti in the Attica region of Greece. Students carried a full course load taught by visiting Harding professors, who also traveled with the students.

Woodard wins online contest

Cory Woodard of LaFayette, Ga., was recently named one of five winners in a nationwide contest sponsored by the TripleSpot app.

The contest asked people to make a Weekend Adventures travel list using the app. Woodard used different places throughout Northwest Georgia as inspiration. He won $2,000 and was named TripleSpot's Weekend Adventurer.