Archive: Around Town

According to the Boy Scouts of America the national average of Eagle Scouts is 5%.  Currently Lansing High School boasts nine Eagle Scouts or candidates who are very close to attaining the rank, almost twice that average.  Most have already earned at least 21 merit badges, served in a leadership capacity for at least six months, and are on the verge of or have completed a community service project.

"In a typical year we may have anywhere from nine to 14 Eagles district-wide," says Mike Brown, the District Commissioner for Taughanock District that encompasses Tompkins and Cortland Counties.  "On average about one per troop, though the troops vary dramatically in size.  To have nine in one of the towns in two counties is really remarkable.  It's a tribute to the scoutmasters here and their programs."

Groton Scoutmaster Marc Stammer, an Eagle Scout himself, got most of the boys together last Friday with leaders and adult Eagle Scouts including Lansing School Superintendent Stephen Grimm and School Board member Glenn Swanson.  He noted that other Lansing community leaders like Greg Hartz and former Lansing Scoutmaster Rick Vaughan are Eagle Scouts.

"It's been rewarding," Stammer says.  "I've known most of these guys since they were 12 or 13.  Watching them grow and mature over the years has been a nice experience.  When I went to the Naval Academy 25% were Eagle Scouts and 70% were scouts at some point."

In the last few years other Lansing Eagle Scouts have rebuilt the sign at Lansing United Methodist Church, built an outdoor reading garden at the Lansing Community Library, provided coat and hat racks for every room in Raymond  Buckley Elementary School, restored a historical cemetery near Cornell, and restored the Light House at Myers Park.  A boat rack projects for kayaks and canoes at Myers Park was so popular that Park Superintendent Steve Colt asked Daniel Comisi to build another one.


Comisi led a team of about 20 people, who built the rack at his mother's house.  Once completed it was disassembled and then reassembled at the park.

"Last Sunday I went back down there and saw it is already being used," he says.  "Some people found ways to store kayaks underneath the boat rack that I hadn't even thought of.  Now it holds four sunfish, on top it holds canoes, and on the bottom it holds kayaks."

Comisi and Peter Stammer are members in Groton Troop 77.  Stammer's project was to clear out and permit the demolishing old barn extension and building screech owl boxes for the Lime Hollow Nature Center.

"Something else I took away from scouting is its ability to teach leadership.  Through courses I've taken and ended up running it's helped me become who I am, become comfortable talking in front of groups of people, and doing presentations in school.  I think it will be a valuable tool throughout my life."

Adam Beckwith's project was to transform a space in the technology building behind Lansing Middle School into a storage space for theater set pieces and equipment.  An old leaky trailer behind the school had been used, leading to water damage that ruined the set pieces.  Beckwith led a team that rearranged the space and moved a partition wall that will accomodate large pieces, and put in shelves for props and smaller items and scene paint.  Beckwith is a member of Ithaca Troop 2.

"So far we've saved money," Beckwith  says.  "The project didn't cost anything, because all the materials were already in the trailer.  I've been in the last three musicals, and have been involved with other shows and the auditorium, the band, the chorus, and the orchestra.  I get to use that space a lot.  I've also helped with set construction, so it was really nice being able to see the project in use for the Middle School drama and the High School musical this year."

Ian Garnett, of Lansing Troop 48, built an outdoor classroom for the Lansing Schools in the nature trail area behind the High School.  His team cleared out brush where there were old benches 20 or so years ago, took out the old benches and bench posts, then installed new telephone posts, made benches, and stained them.  "I did this for the school because the school has given me a lot, so I wanted to give something to the schools," he says.


Garnet's father Roger is the Troop 48 Scout Master and fellow troop members Justin Craig, Martin Keefe, and Michael Coles are also on the Eagle trail.  Craig attained the rank almost two weeks ago.  His project was garden in front of Church On The Rock in Ithaca.

"My favorite part of scouting is the outings and camping trips," he says.  "If you weren't in Boy Scouts you couldn't do a lot of that stuff.  We used to camp at Greek Peak every year."

The nine are filled out by Lansing Troop 67's Sam Warnick, who built pathways at Lime Hollow Nature Center, and Dan Zarate, who created a picnic area at Lime Hollow Visitor's Center.

"(The large number of Lansing Eagles) also highlights the level of parent involvement we have in this community," Swanson says.  "These scouts wouldn't rise to this level without leaders supporting them.  We see that in a lot of activities throughout the schools, a great level of parent and community involvement.  It's excellent training."

Grimm says kids with great character have an effect on the whole school.  "They can transform the culture," he says.  "I noticed in the community where I was before we had six, and we had a Girl Scout gold star award as well.  That particular group progressed from seventh grade to twelfth grade.  They redefined the culture of the school to mean that being a good person was as important as anything else.  I think it does have a profound effect on the community."

Chemistry teacher Jamie Saroka notes that Eagle candidates typically participate in multiple activities at school and in the community.  "These leadership characteristics do carry over into their regular daily activities, whether it be during the day in class, or in after school activities," he says.  "I've been fortunate to have all of these kids in my class and seen how they developed throughout the year.  It's been fun."

Notable Eagle Scouts include many congressmen, senators, at least one president, astronauts, and industry leaders were eagle scouts, as well as leaders of industry and many other endeavors.  According to the Boy Scouts of America, scouts account for 85% of student council presidents, 89% of senior class presidents, 80% of junior class presidents, 75% of school publication editors, 71% of football captains, 64% of Air Force Academy graduates, 68% of West Point graduates, 70% of Annapolis graduates, 72% of Rhodes Scholars, 85% of F.B.I. agents, and 26 of the first 29 astronauts.

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