By Ed Karvoski Jr., Contributing Writer
Marlborough – Boy Scout Troop 41 in Marlborough recognized four young men for demonstrating leadership skills while performing community service projects on their way to becoming Eagle Scouts. An Eagle Scout Court of Honor took place June 11 at the First Church in Marlborough, the troop’s meeting place and sponsor. Eagle Scout is the highest rank of the Boy Scouts of America.
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) and state Rep. Danielle Gregoire (D-Marlborough) presented citations, and Mayor Arthur Vigeant presented proclamations. The elected officials commended the Eagle Scouts for their enhancements to the community. The ceremony was emceed by Jason Young, past scoutmaster and now an assistant scoutmaster.
“They learn the value of upfront planning with their Eagle Scout projects,” he explained. “They estimate the costs of materials and how many volunteers are needed. It does make their projects go much smoother when they’ve thought ahead about all the things you need to do. For the projects that required volunteers, being able to delegate is also a good learning experience for them.”
A passion for baseball inspired the construction-intensive Eagle project of Corey Daly, a 2017 Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School graduate and now a rising sophomore at Merrimack College. He improved the conditions for baseball players and fans at Stevens Park in the city’s French Hill neighborhood by building cubbyholes in the dugouts, repairing bleachers, as well as painting and setting up two picnic tables.
Isaac Niedzielski, a 2018 graduate of St. John’s High School in Shrewsbury, realized that he could fill a void when the troop conducted its annual campout at Riverside Gun Club in Hudson. The club’s outdoor archery range didn’t have permanent markers to determine distance for competitions. He installed permanent markers at the club’s outdoor archery range as his Eagle project.
Noah Watson, a 2018 Marlborough High School (MHS) graduate, decided to restore the Sheep Falls Brook trail for his Eagle project. It’s described on the city of Marlborough’s website as “a one-mile trail that provides a wooded loop path connecting Sasseville Way and the Assabet River Rail Trail to the ARRT entrance near Boston Scientific Way.” He organized volunteers to help remove invasive plants and control erosion.
Before graduating from MHS in 2018, Alex Young, attended Immaculate Conception School from kindergarten through eighth grade. There, he saw a photograph from a few decades ago of the Mary statue that is located outside the back of IC Church. Over the years, however, the statue and grounds around it weren’t well-maintained. For his multistage Eagle project, he cleaned the statue, cleared the overgrowth, installed a bench, and then got volunteers to help with landscaping including a gravel path.
Joining the Eagle Scouts at the Court of Honor were other scouts, troop leaders including Scoutmaster Tom Wissler, mentors, family and friends. A reception catered by The Buffet Way followed the ceremony.
For more information about Boy Scout Troop 41, visit ktctroop41.org and on Facebook at facebook.com/Troop41Marlborough.
