Nathaniel Degear
Nathaniel Degear

The Boy Scouts of America Leatherstocking Council’s Eagle Scout Community Service Project of the Year Committee has named four finalists. The winner will be announced during the Oct. 18 BSA Leadership Dinner. Last year, 77 Scouts achieved the Eagle Scout rank in our eight-county council and cumulatively donated 1,540 community service hours.

In alphabetical order, the finalists and their projects are listed below:

Nathaniel Degear of DeRuyter led an effort to post reflective 911 placards across the greater DeRuyter area. He raised more than $10,000 to help make his community safer and organized an Eagle Scout project that will impact this community for years to come.

Gannon Frisbee of Downsville originally proposed to repair and

Gannon Frisbee

upgrade his local VFW’s lighting fixtures, wall décor, etc. After realizing the structural integrity of the entire building was at risk, he decided to expand the scope of his project. Gannon repaired load-bearing walls and poured a new, solid concrete floor. The VFW resumed normal operations and attributes their ability to do so to Gannon’s craftmanship.

Devyn Guy of Middleburgh worked with the state historical markers program in Schoharie Valley. He pulled nine forged metal signs out of the ground, wire-brushed them down to
bare metal, repainted them blue and gold by hand and put them back in service. One sign did not
survive the rehabilitation process, so Devyn went to a foundry to get it recast and replaced.

Devyn Guy

The Clinton Poetry Path required the collaboration of several different stakeholders and taught Paul White of Clinton how to successfully interact with a variety of passionate individuals and organizations while moving his project forward. With approvals needed from the local historic preservation organizations, artisan’s guild, and other governmental agencies and officials, this project required a lot of buy-in and input and ended up being, by all accounts, a perfect addition to the community. Twelve poetry stands were placed throughout the community with poems contributed and selected by all those involved.

Paul White

Besides the announcement of the Eagle Scout Community Service Project of the Year, the 2017 BSA Leadership Dinner will include the presentation of two Community Leadership Awards. The business
honoree is Albert Pylinski, Jr. of New York Central Mutual and the public service honoree is Mayor Robert Palmieri.

The BSA Community Leadership Award is presented to those who exemplify in their daily lives the ideals of the Boy Scouts of America as expressed in the Scout Oath and Law. The recipients are chosen for their outstanding community service as evidenced by the interest and leadership given to many worthwhile organizations as well as the respect and esteem to which they are held by their colleagues.

By martha

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.