Troop 59's
PUBLIC SITE
Home Page
T59 100th Anniv.
Troop Leadership
Troop Committee
Meetings
Merit Badges
Rank Advancement
Media
Join Troop 59
Troop History
Forms & Info


 
Boy Scout Troop 59
(Allendale, New Jersey)
 
ScoutLander Contact Our Troop Member Login
  
 

Troop 59 Eagle Scouts 2010


Five Allendale Boy Scout Troop 59 members become Eagle Scouts
Thursday, September 16, 2010 
LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 16, 2010, 1:23 AM
TOWN JOURNAL
SPECIAL TO TOWN JOURNAL

Allendale Boy Scout Troop 59 recently honored five Scout members who diligently worked to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout. The five Scouts, John Cranston, John Merkovsky Jr., Anthony Messina, Steven Griffoul and Jesse Staub, learned a Scout is a trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.

The Troop Eagle Committee of Allendale Troop 59 and the Northern New Jersey Council recently approved five Allendale Boy Scouts to become Eagle Scouts, following the completion of their individual Eagle Scouts projects. Above, from left, Jesse Staub, Anthony Messina, Steven Griffoul, John Cranston and John Merkovsky.
PHOTO COURTESY OF BONNIE MCCARTHY
The Troop Eagle Committee of Allendale Troop 59 and the Northern New Jersey Council recently approved five Allendale Boy Scouts to become Eagle Scouts, following the completion of their individual Eagle Scouts projects. Above, from left, Jesse Staub, Anthony Messina, Steven Griffoul, John Cranston and John Merkovsky.

To achieve the highest rank in Scouting, the five worked on individual Eagle projects, approved by the Troop Eagle Committee of AllendaleTroop 59 and the Northern New Jersey Council that required over 200 hours of planning and labor. Details of the projects and personal highlights of the Scouts are as follows:

Cranston, a senior at The Craig High School in Lincoln Park, converted an abandoned room in deplorable condition at Christ Church of Ramapo in Suffern, N.Y., into a bright, usable conference room. He spent more than a year on the project, with 320 hours of time involved.

Merkovsky, a senior at Northern Highland Regional High School, helped the Missionaries of Charity in Harlem where he has been a soup kitchen volunteer for many years. He built two large storage units for food and cleaned up the garden. The garden and adjoining courtyard now serve as a safe recreation area for local children attending religious education classes and summer camp. He also wrapped 20 exposed metal beams with commercial padding to ensure the entire area was safe for the children to play. A total of 442 hours were invested in John's Eagle Project.

Anthony Messina, a senior at Northern Highlands Regional High School, chose to make a Sensory Board for disabled children at Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center in N.Y. The Sensory Board was designed and constructed specifically for the children at the facility. The board has touch, site, and sound mechanisms for the children to play and learn with. Anthony worked with physical therapists, special education teachers and staff while designing and constructing the board.

Steven Griffoul, a senior at Northern Highlands Regional High School, renovated the outside gardens of the Christ Episcopal Church of Ramapo in Suffern, N.Y. With the help of his fellow Scouts, Steven trimmed all the bushes, removed all dying and over grown plants, added mulch to the newly defined gardens and replanted to add color to the garden. Steven spent time going to many different hardware stores, landscaping companies and nurseries in order to get all of the necessary supplies to complete his project.

Jesse Staub, who just began his freshman year in the Engineering School at the University of Michigan, completed a service project that involved the design and construction of three rolling bookshelves and a rolling play table for Oasis, a haven for women and children in Paterson. Oasis provides employment readiness for low income mothers and afterschool programs for children. The new rolling furniture replaces old and inadequate units and provides an effective method of moving books and children's games to various places in the building. Many Scouts aided in the construction, assemble and delivery of the units.

--Article reprinted from NorthJersey.com web site (http://www.northjersey.com/recreation/103022389_Five_Allendale_Boy_Scout_Troop_59_members_become_Eagle_Scouts.html)

Troop 59 Eagle Scouts 2009


A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent; all personal attributes learned and practiced by six Allendale Troop 59 Scouts who earned the rank of Eagle Scout: Johnny Jung, Michael Zoeller, John Hylas, Jonathan Dworkin, Keefe Askin and Matthew Hillman.

Allendale Troop 59 Eagle Scouts, front row, from left, John Hylas and Johnny Jung, middle row, from left, Keefe Askin and Jonathan Dworkin, top row, from left, Matthew Hillman and Michael Zoeller.
PHOTO COURTESY OF TROOP 59
Allendale Troop 59 Eagle Scouts, front row, from left, John Hylas and Johnny Jung, middle row, from left, Keefe Askin and Jonathan Dworkin, top row, from left, Matthew Hillman and Michael Zoeller.

To achieve the highest rank in Scouting, the six worked on individual Eagle projects, approved by the Troop Eagle Committee of Allendale Troop 59 and the Northern New Jersey Council, that required over 200 hours of planning and labor. Details of the Eagle projects and personal highlights of each Scout are as follows:

Johnny Jung: For his Eagle service project, Jung planned and carried out a landscaping project for New Jersey Life Church, planting shrubbery and building a new patio with marble benches. He played freshman, junior varsity and varsity football at Northern Highlands and is currently a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Michael Zoeller: Zoeller's Eagle project consisted of constructing 14 freestanding wooden crosses and installing them around the Guardian Angel Church property in Allendale. The 14 stations commemorate the "Stations of the Cross". Zoeller was named a 2009 National Merit Scholar and was captain of the Northern Highlands varsity swimming team. He also swam for 10 years for the Wyckoff YMCA Sharks and coached the Crestwood Cruiser swim team, for which he previously competed for 11 years. Zoeller is currently a freshman attending Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania.

John Hylas: For his Eagle project, Hylas took on a local community endeavor for the Allendale Police Department, completing an inventory of over 100 traffic signs located in the borough. With the help of fellow Troop 59 Scouts, he completed a walk-down of the traffic signs, entered data for each sign into a police-issued Global Positioning System, and built a computerized database of all local traffic signs in Allendale, which included their physical condition and GPS location. Hylas also prepared and distributed traffic safety brochures for local community use. Hylas was a DECA and class council member every year at Northern Highlands. He is currently a freshman at Villanova University.

Jonathan Dworkin: For his Eagle project, Dworkin led a group of fellow Scouts in planning, constructing and installing ten water stations at Glen Grey County Park, a popular camp site for local Scouts and community groups in Mahwah. The work included learning to solder copper pipes, teaching the skill to other Scouts, and fabricating the drinking fountains/faucet combinations. After constructing the pipes, Dworkin led fellow Scouts in the installation of concrete and wood post stands and the final mounting of the water stations throughout the Glen Grey camp sites. While at Northern Highlands, Dworkin lettered in varsity football and also played junior varsity basketball, cross-country and spring track. He also worked as a counselor at the local ALEOOP camp for several years. Dworkin is currently a freshman attending the Rutgers University School of Engineering.

Keefe Askin: Askin considered many ideas for his Eagle Scout project before he decided to complete an endeavor for the Allendale Recreation Commission. Askin planned, designed and constructed two handicapped-accessible picnic tables and a waste receptacle enclosure for the concession stand behind Brookside School. He also wood burned two maps of the recreation fields to assist out-of-town visitors in locating the appropriate venues. The maps are located at the concession stand and Crestwood Park. Askin has been an active member of Reflections, a teen improvisation acting group organized by the Bergen County Department of Family Guidance. He also was involved with the Northern Highlands Improvisation Club. Askin is currently a freshman attending Union College in New York.

Matthew Hillman: Hillman knew for a long time that when it was time to plan an Eagle project, he would focus on his church, Zion Lutheran Church in Saddle River. The project consisted of the renovation and repair of an overgrown area at the church, a perfect place for a memorial garden for congregation members. Several bushes and trees were removed and new flowers and plants were installed. New mulch was laid and the flower bulbs that were planted gave way to a beautiful sitting area and memorial garden. Hillman is active on the Allendale Volunteer Ambulance Corp. He also has worked as a ski instructor at Okemo and as an assistant unit leader and health officer at Camp Rickabear, a Scout camp in Kinnelon. Hillman is currently a freshman attending Kutztown University in Pennsylvania.

The progression of the six Eagle Scouts from Cub Scout Packs 252 and 59 through Troop 59 promoted dedicated efforts to community service and trust and loyalty to fellow Boy Scouts through the years. The development of Jung, Zoeller, Hylas, Dworkin, Askin and Hillman to the rank of Eagle came under the direct supervision and guidance of Troop 59 mentor, Scoutmaster David Unger.

--Troop59

Article reprinted from NorthJersey.com web site (http://www.northjersey.com/recreation/news/81424617_Six_Scouts_earn_Eagle_rank.html)