March 29, 2024

Troop 1 Seekonk Eagle Scouts

Posted

During 2020-22 Troop 1 Seekonk was honored to see 8 of our scouts earn Eagle Scout, the highest rank in Scouts BSA. Due to the pandemic, we were not able to hold larger gatherings for a while. This summer we made up for it and celebrated in a big way with multiple events which included friends, family, community members and state representatives. We especially appreciate and want to thank our Seekonk and East Providence communities for celebrating with us! Our scouts were honored to receive Certificates of Recognition from the state, their hometowns and by the Freemasons of RI & MA.

To reach Eagle Scout, a large part of their final requirements is to propose, manage, and complete an Eagle Scout project of their choice. During these service projects scouts demonstrate leadership to others while putting into practice various skills they’ve learned over their scouting careers. We are thankful for these scouts and the projects they’ve completed for our community, including these two Seekonk residents who completed projects in their hometowns.

Jakob’s Eagle Project was to build and install 12 birdhouses for the Caratunk Wildlife Refuge in Seekonk. This included 10 bluebird boxes and 2 larger kestrel boxes. After building these birdhouses, scouts went out into the fields at Caratunk and dug holes for new birdhouse posts in addition to replacing old ones. This project was completed during the spring of 2021 and Caratunk reported that birds were seen moving into the houses shortly after, so the project was a great help to the local wildlife.

After being a Cub Scout in Pack 88, Rumford for 5 years, Jakob joined Troop 1 Seekonk in 2015. While in Troop 1, he earned 39 merit badges, Bronze, Gold and Silver Eagle palms in addition to the Den Chief Service Award and World Conservation Award. This fall he was honored to become a Vigil member in the Order of the Arrow. In terms of leadership, Jakob has served as Troop Guide and Asst. Sr Patrol Leader for Troop 1 and is currently the Lodge Treasurer for Tulpe Lodge in the Order of the Arrow.


Jakob graduated from Saint Raphael Academy this past June. There he was captain of the tennis team as well as member of the math team and National Honor Society. This fall Jakob began college at Rochester Institute of Technology with a major in Computer Engineering Technology.


Thomas’s Eagle project was planning and then constructing an information kiosk for the entrance to the white trail of the Gammino Pond hiking trails. Thanks to the Town of Seekonk and Thomas’s uncle, Andrew Tokarz, the kiosk was constructed in order to help hikers by giving them information about the trail and its environment.

Thomas has earned 32 Merit Badges and has earned a Bronze and Gold Eagle palm. He also has earned Brotherhood in the Order of the Arrow and has attended NYLT. Thomas was also a Webelo in Pack 88 Rumford and was later a Den Chief. Thomas’s favorite trips were Camp Yawgoog, Sea Base, and the winter campouts and he enjoyed every aspect along with every adventure these trips had to offer.

Outside of scouting, Thomas attended Seekonk High School where he was the senior drum major for the music program along with being a member of the jazz band and theoretical physics club. During high school Thomas earned the Louis Armstrong Jazz award and a music scholarship from the band committee.

Currently Thomas is attending Bridgewater State University and is a part of the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity. Thomas is currently working for his degree in biochemistry and plans on attending post graduate school for his PhD.

When asked about his time as a scout, Thomas says “Scouting is one of those things that people don't understand because they have not experienced it. Typical stereotypes of scouts are knots and knowing how to thrive in the wilderness, this may be true however it is not what scouting is truly about. Being a scout is like being in one big family with the rest of your troop, you get to go on so many adventures and see things that non scouts don’t. Scouts do so much for their communities and learn other skills more than just wilderness survival and knots. My scouting experience has been life changing, my troop is like a whole other family, some of my closest and best friends and role models have come from my troop. I have learned so much not only from collecting merit badges but from other people and through experiences that I otherwise would not have had. Whether it was a community service project, hiking a mountain, or going on a high adventure in the Florida Keys there was always something to learn and there was always something to experience. Scouting has and will forever be the best years of my life and I encourage others to take the same path of scouting as I have and change their lives for the better.”

If you’d like to find out more about scouting, please contact us:
Scouts BSA Troop 1 Seekonk (for Boys ages 11-17):
Troop1SeekonkMA@gmail.com 
Scouts BSA Troop 9 Seekonk (for Girls ages 11-17):
Troop9SeekonkMA@gmail.com 


Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here

Share!
Truly local news delivered to every home in town