The Boy Scouts of America Leatherstocking Council celebrated the achievements of 35 local Boy Scouts who earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 2023 on Sunday, Jan. 7.
Fifteen of the 35 new Eagle Scouts, along with their families and Scout leaders, braved a weekend snowstorm to attend the recognition dinner at the Carriage House Event Center in Oneonta.
The Leatherstocking Council represents about 1,700 scouts from six counties. The Susquehanna Headwaters District covers Otsego, Delaware and Schoharie counties, the Powderhorn District covers Madison County and western Oneida County, and the Adirondack Foothills District covers the rest of Oneida County and Herkimer County.
Annually, about 3 to 4% of Leatherstocking Council scouts earn their Eagle Scout award — the highest rank attainable in Boy Scouts.
In 2023, the scouts who attained the Eagle Scout award performed 4,661 total labor hours and contributed a total estimated value of more than $41,000, according to the council.
One of the requirements to earn the Eagle Scout rank is to complete a comprehensive community service project that has a lasting impact.
Troop 23 member Noah Ashe, of Maryland, chose to complete a series of projects at the Swart-Wilcox House, the oldest historical home in Oneonta, including installing a new brick pathway to the corn crib, building a wash bench with period-accurate materials to be used in demonstrations and posting a sign to mark the foundation of the old barn.
Ashe, a 19-year-old international studies student at American University in Washington, D.C., has been active in scouting since first grade.
“We had really good leaders,” he said about why he stayed involved with the Boy Scouts, “so that is a big part of it. They were really engaged and really helped us. And I love being outdoors.”
Troop 33 member Carter Tarrants of Delhi, said he found inspiration for his project from his twin sister, Ellie Tarrants, an FFA state officer and SUNY Cobleskill student.
Carter Tarrants, a SUNY Binghamton student, said that while at Delaware Academy, his sister pointed out that the school’s sugarhouse needed improved drainage. He put in new drainage and added sidewalk and patio to the back of the structure, where the sap tanks can be kept dry.
Tarrants, 18, started Boy Scouts in sixth grade, excited by the opportunity to make friends and be outdoors.
“Every year you’re learning things and doing different camping trips, and you’re always planning different events,” he said. “I’ve built friendships with a bunch of different people, and I always wanted to keep that. It’s always really fun for me.”
Three of the five new Eagle Scouts from Troop 56 attended the dinner: Joseph Berube, 16, and Brandon Rotman, 16, both of Cobleskill, and Kyle Golden, 16, of Richmondville, who attend Cobleskill-Richmondville High School.
Berube built a shed to house supplies for the sensory garden at Radez Elementary School in Richmondville. Golden expanded the selection of picnic tables among his projects at Richmondville’s community park. Rotman, a baseball player, built a batting cage at the high school for the baseball and softball programs.
Troop 56 Scoutmaster Stephen Strasser reflected on molding young leaders and good citizens.
“I probably first met them age 10,” he said. “They start off as little kids running around, no attention span, and then they turn into these really impressive people … They show up to all of our events, all of our volunteer ones, and now they’ve become teachers. So I can say to any of them when the younger scouts come, ‘hey, can you teach them any of the skills that they’re supposed to know?’ And that’s a real pleasure.”
The additional Eagle Scouts honored at the dinner included Andrew Klopchin of Masonville, Shane Polyak of Little Falls, Gaetano Nasci of Rome, Anthony Tobiasz of Marcy, James Houck of Barneveld, Brayton Eastman-Willens of Unadilla, Gabriel Smithson of Ilion, Taran Davis of Margaretville, Christopher Waite of Ilion, Tristan Ellerbruch of Oneida, Lincoln DiLorenzo of Cooperstown, Benjamin Conover of Newport, Zach Gardner of Walton, Jonathan Schlaepfer of Richfield Springs, Benjamin Abrams of Rome, Joshua Grabowski of Newport, David Brooks of Walton, Collin Rowlands of Holland Patent, Julian Ford of New York Mills, Aiden Frost of East Worcester, Lucas Pryor of Cobleskill, Andrew Bielicki of Chittenango, Samuel Getchell of Marcy, Jordan Gibson of Herkimer, Connor Mack of Ilion, William Bush of Tuscaloosa, Rosewell David Butterworth V of Williamstown, Anthony Joyce of Mohawk, Christopher Joyce of Mohawk and Logan Wolfe of New Hartford.