Fifteen Goshen Eagle Scouts

This spring 15 Boy Scouts from Troop 63 in Goshen earned their Eagle Scout rank.

Troop 63 is sponsored by Saint James Episcopal Church in Goshen and is led by Jeffrey Albanese of Goshen. The troop has been actively involved with the community’s youth for 67 years.

The Eagle Scout award is scouting’s highest achievement with only 6.5 percent of all scouts earning this prestigious honor. It is extraordinary for a group of 15 scouts from the same troop to earn their Eagle Scout award in the same year.

The troop’s Eagle Scout Court of Honor has been postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis.

The Eagle Scout journey is one of hard work, perseverance and service.

Required merit badges for Eagle Scout include First Aid, Citizenship in the Community, Nation and World; Communications; Cooking; Personal Fitness; Lifesaving; Environmental Science; and Personal Management.

In addition to these required merit badges scouts are encouraged to participate in other merit badges that interest them and to contribute to their personal development and education.

This group of Eagle Scouts has earned 513 merit badges between them.

Over their scouting career scouts design and conduct several community service projects culminating in their Eagle Scout project which involves hundreds of hours of planning and executing an improvement to a community entity. There are few aspects of the community that have not been touched by an Eagle Scout service project.

The following young men earned their Eagle Scout rank:

· Blake Albanese (son of Chris and Janet Albanese). Blake’s Eagle Scout project was to build a Gaga Ball pit in the Village of Goshen park.

· Brandon Arroyo (son of Carlos and Stephanie Arroyo). Brandon painted the Goshen Food Pantry for his Eagle Scout project

· Jack Callahan (son of Marty and Rita Callahan). Jack landscaped the Purple Heart Memorial at the Orange County Veteran’s Cemetery.

· Matthew Chapman (son of Langdon and Allison Chapman). Matthew’s project was to install a stone path and landscaping at Burke Catholic High School.

· Harry Degan (son of Edward and Tara Degan). Harry’s project included painting the main hallway in the St. James Episcopal Church.

· Jack Donohue (son of Paul and Claudia Donohue). Jack built raised planters at the Valley View Nursing Home.

· Thomas Esposito (son of Gary and Jane Esposito). His project was to paint the inside of the A.U.M.P. Church.

· Zachary Goodman (son of Eric and Yvette Goodman). Zach performed a revitalization of the handicap ramp at Temple Beth Shalom in Florida.

· Andrew Hablow (son of Geoff and Karin Hablow). Andrew built three Heritage Trail kiosks.

· Aidan Kelley (son of Patrick and Melissa Kelley). Aidan built decorative walls in the A.U.M.P Church Prayer Garden

· Jack Loughran (son of Michael and Shannon Loughran). Jack’s project was to landscape the Prayer Garden at the A.U.M.P Church.

· Patrick Monroe (son of James Monroe and Mary Tetreault) Patrick rebuilt the stairway to the A.U.M.P Church in Goshen

· Trey Patel (son of Peter and Beckey Patel). Trey led the effort to plant trees on Murray Avenue and install a garden at St John’s Church.

· Braden Smith (son of Wayne and Marilyn Smith). Braden’s project was to repair the irrigation system at the Florida Cemetery.

· Justin Thousand (son of Dave Thousand and Cindy Noyes). Justin performed maintenance and installed insulation of the Boiler system at St. James Episcopal Church.

Troop 63 has a long history of its scouts earning their Eagle award. To date, Troop 63 has had 156 young men become Eagle Scouts.

St James Episcopal Church is extremely proud of the hard work and accomplishments of these 15 young men. They bring honor to their troop, their families, and our community and they serve as an example for all those who follow in their footsteps.

Congratulations to all these young men on this well-earned achievement.