Troop 223 Graduates 26 Eagle Scouts

By MAGNOLIA LAFLEUR | Reporter

Twenty-six scouts from Troop 223 were honored at this year’s annual Eagle Court of Honor,  a ceremony that took place Sunday, November 21, on the meadow at St. Matthew’s Parish.

The Eagle Court of Honor is known as a Scout’s greatest moment. This year’s group of Scouts have persevered through the COVID-19 pandemic with over 100 kids on Zoom meetings, and attended several camp-outs and high adventure trips in trails that extended up to 100 miles in Philmont and Yosemite.

At Yosemite, they backpacked for a week and scaled Half Dome, a granite dome at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley, and trekked about 80 miles in 13 days at Philmont Scout Ranch .

“I have been a scoutmaster for so long because our troop stands for young people leading skillfully, making good choices and serving others.” Mike Lanning, scoutmaster of Troop 223, said to the Palisadian-Post.  “No other youth program lets the youth run the program as we do in Scouts. They learn to be better fathers and brothers, better husbands and wives. They learn to be CEOs, community leaders and they all become Eagle Scouts if they stay with us.”

Palisadian Matt Clark’s son, Travers, was honored with the rank of Eagle Scout this year. His accomplishments include winning the Patrol Contest, where after approximately 20 weeks as Patrol Leader of his group, he was awarded for achieving the highest amount of points in part to their completion of tasks, chores and activities with the highest amount of excellence and efficiency.

“The ceremony was a great opportunity to reflect as you don’t realize the amount of work and determination put forth,” Clark explained, saying that this moment in their young lives is a foundational cornerstone.

The ceremony consisted of an invocation, recognition of all the Eagle Scouts in attendance and an individual award ceremony.

And while the COVID-19 pandemic affected event attendance, Lanning said most of the camping and Scout outings were successful, adhering to all guidelines.

“We were pleased that we could have everything completed without much interruption despite COVID,” Lanning said. “And now we’re pretty much back to normal, we’re going camping this weekend.”

Palisadian Andrew Grinsfelder received his Eagle Scout Award after holding the positions of Senior Patrol Leader and Crew Leader.

“I felt proud and a sense of accomplishment to be one of the few people throughout the nation honored with the rank of Eagle,” Grinsfelder said to the Post. “I put a lot of time and effort into learning how to be a leader and many other important life skills.”

Those who received Eagle Scout Awards on November 21 were Jackson Adams, Manuel Garcia, Jonah Choi, George Clark, Steven Clouse, William Coleman, Rohan Enayati-Uzeta, Auston Fuller, Brendan Gardner, Henri Gibson, Andrew Grinsfelder, Shyon Javadi, Andrew Lawrence, Alex Leinbach, London Maslow, Hugo McRobb, Padraig Moohr, Padraig Moohr, Aidan Nguyen, Noah Nguyen, Gabe Nizzen, Ryan Pack, Adam Sohigian, Justin Spoeri, Jackson Tanner, Jonas Treiman and Ryan Wickstrom.

When asked at the ceremony about what being a scout helps you with, Lanning replied, “Just about everything.”

“People often believe that Scouting is comprised of simply tying knots and camping, but the most important aspect of the program is arguably how it teaches leadership at such a young age,” Grinsfelder added. “Now that I have made it through the program and earned my Eagle, I have a great appreciation for what I have learned.”

Those who are interested in joining the girls’ troop can reach Christy Lowe at lowe.christy@gmail.com. Those interested in joining the boys’ troop can reach Greg Frost at frostfamily@frostinvestigations.com.

Both the girls’ and boys’ troops are inviting fifth- and sixth-graders to join now.