The News-Times/ Wendy Carlson
Logan Hepner of New Fairfield won an essay contest
sponsored by the Sons of the American Revolution.
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For one New Fairfield teen, the Fourth of July is where history
begins.
The American Revolution stirs up so much patriotism in the recent
high school graduate that it earned him a scholarship for an essay
on the subject.
"I do have deep appreciation for the Revolutionary War because it
set a lot of our foundation policies and made this country what it
is,” said Logan Hepner. "We have the second-lowest taxes in the
world because we were founded on a tax revolt.”
In April, Hepner won a regional Eagle Scout essay contest and a
$150 scholarship by the local chapter of the Sons of The American
Revolution.
Hepner, who graduated in June from New Fairfield High School,
will begin his freshman year at Brandeis University this fall to
study biology. He hopes eventually go to medical school to become an
orthopedic surgeon. He is the son of Larry and Shirley Hepner and
has one sister, Leah, 16.
Involved with scouting since he was a 5-year-old Tiger Cub Scout,
Hepner earned the coveted title of Eagle Scout in 2000. He is one of
four Eagle Scouts in Troop 42 where is he and his father are
assistant Scoutmasters.
His winning essay was about how increasing taxes was the impetus
of the War for Independence.
"Basically, (my essay) was about the three basic causes of the
Revolutionary War,” Hepner said. "I’ve always been interested in
history.”
Hepner competed against 15 other entrants and his essay, which
took him two hours to write, will now be entered into a statewide
pool. The winner of the National SAR contest will receive a
scholarship of up to $8,000.
"I felt pretty strong about my essay. It was concise and got to
the point and it had a lot of history,” he said.
Hepner is so fascinated with history that he has started a
collection of U.S. military uniforms. He has uniforms from World War
I, World War II and from the Korean, Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars.
A member of the National Honor Society, Hepner graduated in June
with a 3.7 grade-point average and will enter college this fall as
an ROTC. He credits much of his success to scouting and said it has
been a tremendous influence on his life.
"It’s so much fun. We have camp outs once a month. We go on
hikes. We go climbing. We work on scouting skills. A lot of outdoor
stuff,” he said. "I’ve gotten a deep respect for hard work. I
learned how to interact with my peers and the biggest thing I’ve
gotten out of Boy Scouts is how to be a leader.”
