Scout Earns Eagle Rank For Garden Work At St Rose

Matthew Jensen earned the rank of Eagle Scout during Boy Scout Troop 770’s Eagle Scout Court of Honor held at St Rose of Lima’s Gathering Hall on Saturday, May 21.

“It was amazing,” said Matthew following the event. “We had about six or seven [previously awarded] Eagle Scouts from the troop to show up to support me, and current and formers leaders from the troop as well.”

Matthew’s Eagle project involved the construction of a rain garden behind the new Knights of Columbus building at St Rose of Lima Church. The rain garden is composed of a birch tree, bushes, and more than 500 individual grass plugs that filter toxins out of runoff water before it enters nearby protected wetlands, said Matthew’s mother, Jackie Jensen.

To complete the project, Matthew had to secure donations of plant material both from local nurseries and wholesale nurseries located as far away as Indiana and Tennessee.

While Matthew said he worked on the project last April, he was first approached with the idea to work on it by Monsignor Robert Weiss in November 2009.

Matthew also led roughly 30 scouts and volunteers through installing the plants on the property. The project required 155 hours of work to complete, and had to be approved by the town.

This week Matthew thanked everyone who helped him completed the project, including Ace Hardware of Newtown and Twombly Nursery in Monroe.

Matthew earned a total of 31 merit badges during his seven years of Boy Scouts. He served as Troop 770’s Senior Patrol Leader from 2008 to 2009. Matt has also held the troop positions of quartermaster and instructor. He will be graduating from Newtown High School later this month.