Scouts' projects ranged from books to Buckelew
Five local teens achieve Boy Scouts' highest rank, Eagle

JAMESBURG - Five Scouts from Boy Scout Troop 54 were awarded the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank a Boy Scout can achieve, earlier this month at the Jamesburg Presbyterian Church.

In order to attain this rank, Andrew Healey, Ryan Rosati, Alfred Rotundo, Thomas Soden and Brian Somers each fulfilled an exhaustive list of requirements that included designing, organizing and leading other Scouts in completing a service project for his community.

For his Eagle Project, Andrew worked on the trails at James Monroe Park, clearing trash, removing fallen trees, trimming underbrush to widen overgrown paths, adding mulch to help keep the trails clear, and creating a new trail to the stream. This was part of an ongoing project started by members of the troop before him, and will be continued by Scouts after him, so that the nature trails can be maintained and enjoyed by the public.

Andrew graduated from Monroe Township High School last June and is now a student at Cook College at Rutgers University, where he plans to double major in environmental policy and industrial behavior and sociology.

Ryan's Eagle project involved leading volunteers to clean up a double lot of property belonging to the Immaculate Conception Church in Spotswood. The lot had been used as a dumping area for many years. The project included removal of a wide variety of debris, underbrush and trees.

Ryan is currently a freshman at Monroe Township High School and is on the honor roll. His interests outside of scouting include, track, cross country and drawing. His plans for the future are to attend college and pursue a career in either veterinary medicine or forensic science.

Alfred completed his Eagle Scout project last June. He repaired and painted the Presbyterian Church office porch in Jamesburg. He also installed a ramp for the handicapped to the right side of the porch.

Alfred graduated from Monroe Township High School last June and was a member of the varsity wrestling team, earning four varsity letters. He was also a member of the National Honor Society. Alfred is now a freshman at Penn State University with an electrical engineering major in mind, and he is also part of the club wrestling team at Penn State.

Thomas holds a strong commitment to the environment, community service and the preservation of local history, primarily due to his late grandfather, Oliver L.E. Soden Jr., who told him stories about Jamesburg's history. The historic Buckelew Mansion was the obvious site for his Eagle project.

The project consisted of a joint environmental restoration and historical landscape revitalization project of the grounds of the Buckelew house. The environmental aspect included the removal of at least a ton of garbage that had been thrown into the stream behind the mansion. The waste was a hazard to the environment and possibly damaging to the ecosystem of the stream. The historical revitalization portion included the revivification of several existing planting beds with new mulch and the construction of eight additional planting beds.

Another component of the project was the construction of a grave site on the grounds of the Buckelew house using a historic grave stone and antique bricks from the property in order to impart a greater degree of authenticity to the Buckelew Mansion.

Thomas attended Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, where he graduated with honors in 2006. While at Christian Brothers he played lacrosse and participated in may extracurricular activities. He was the art/photography editor for its literary magazine, "Arister." He participated in the LaSallian Youth organization, where he helped feed the homeless in Asbury Park. He also volunteered as a tutor for underprivileged children in Monmouth County.

Thomas is attending Rutgers College as a member of the Rutgers College honors program. He plans to major in history and philosophy.

Brian is a senior at Monroe Township High School. He is an honor roll student who takes part in various activities including Student Council, Key Club, National Honor Society, DECA (a marketing club), Future Business Leaders of America, and FCA. He is a varsity cross country, winter track and spring track runner as well.

To obtain the rank of Eagle, Brian completed a service project at the John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Jamesburg, totaling over 120 hours. His project involved reorganizing the school library as well as holding a book drive to collect over 1,500 new books to be placed on the shelves of the library. The previous books on the shelves of the library were sorted through and organized, and the new books were carded, recorded and placed on the shelves. An additional 500 books were donated to the teachers of the school to be used in their classrooms.

Outside of school and Boy Scouts, Bran is a volunteer for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). For the past 12 years he has been participating in the annual JDRF walk to cure diabetes. He manages his own walk team composed of his friends and family members and raises over $2,000 annually. He is also a JDRF advocate, participating in campaigns to help convince politicians and the public to support the funding of stem cell research.

Brian plans to continue his education by attending Rutgers University next year, and hopes to major in food sciences and minor in business or marketing.

The Scouts who recently attained the rank of Eagle are (l-r) Brian Somers, Thomas Soden, Alfred Retundo, Ryan Rosati and Andrew Healey.