Pavilion F in Myer's Park was busy August 23rd with supporters of Lansing Troop 48 scouts. The evening was spent honoring the hard work of three young men receiving their Eagle Scout awards. The Eagle Scout is the highest advancement in Boy Scouting. In the words of the Eagle Scout promise, Eagles do their best each day to make their training an example, their rank and influence count strongly for better Scouting and for better citizenship in their troop, in their community and in their contacts with other people.

Sean O'Neil, Nico Streb and Toby Green were awarded the rank of Eagle in front of over 20 of their fellow Scouts. The three boys joined Lansing Troop 48 during 2010, although O'Neil and Streb had both experienced the fun of Cub Scouts in Lansing Pack 48 before joining the Boy Scouts. During their 7 years in the Troop the boys worked their way up through the ranks. They started with relatively simple tasks; learning many outdoor and survival skills, learning about citizenship and other life skills such as cooking and physical fitness. Each rank advances these skills and later ranks included the need to earn merit badges, engage in leadership positions within the troop and provide community service. To achieve each rank, the Scouts discussed their Scouting experiences with a board of adult leaders and parents.

The culmination of their experiences in their years of Scouting was their leadership of the Eagle Scout community service projects. O'Neil planned and led the placement of bluebird boxes from the Treman Marina to Cass Park in Ithaca and constructed nest boxes for the American Kestrel. Salt Point was the location of the Eagle project undertaken by Streb. He planned and led the building of a Chimney Swift tower to encourage the birds to return to the area. Green designed, planned and led the construction of a bike rack and shelter for Lansing High School. Over 300 hours of service was put in by the teams working on the Eagle projects alone, without adding the service hours provided to all the other projects throughout the years.


The three boys enjoyed many camping experiences throughout their years in Scouting, amassing over 550 nights of camping in their tenure as Scouts. Some of those nights were spent locally (including Myer's Park, Lime Hollow Nature Center and Camp Barton Scout Camp) and some further afield. The Troop camped in Pennsylvania for both cycling and white-water rafting trips, they went to Acadia National Park in Maine (a trip initiated by O'Neil) and they cycled through Vermont. There is a camping opportunity every month, though occasionally hostels and cabins are used. The boys enjoyed city trips to Philadelphia, to Washington DC and to Albany (organized by Green). In all these outings throughout the years, songs, skits and tales were shared at campfires where Streb always lent a vibrant and joyous voice as he passed the campfire traditions on to the younger scouts. Streb and Green attended the National Scout Jamboree in West Virginia in 2013 and Streb and O'Neil were part of a local contingent to Blair Atholl in Scotland in 2014.

During the ceremony, letters of commendation from various sources were shared. The boys were honored in person by Norman Wheeler on behalf of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and Sons of the American Revolution, by Anne Drake on behalf of the Lansing Lions who charter Lansing Troop 48 and by Mike Brown, the District Commissioner for Taughannock District –Baden Powell Council.

After receiving their awards on Wednesday night, O'Neil, Streb and Green responded with thanks to their parents, Scout leaders, mentors and fellow Scouts and shared amusing anecdotes and memories of their experiences.

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