On January 6, five local Boy Scouts from Newtown’s Troop 70 earned their figurative wings as they were honored for their promotion to the rank of Eagle Scout at a ceremony at St Rose of Lima Church.

Colby Fowler of Newtown, Colman Tokar of Monroe, Ryan Stutman of Newtown, Adam Zibluk of Newtown, and Maxwell Barbagallo of Sandy Hook, all received their promotions following completion of their individual Eagle Scout projects. The ceremony, held at the parish’s Holy Innocents Faith Formation Center, was the first promotion for Eagle Scouts since the pandemic.

Fowler, in May 2019, built and installed bird nesting boxes and cleared vegetation for a bird viewing area at the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary.

Fowler has always loved the outdoors and hands-on work. This was fostered in his scouting career and furthered by attending high school at the Ellis Clark Regional Agriscience Program at Nonnewaug High School in Woodbury. His Eagle Scout service project took place at the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary where he created habitat to attract wild birds and make an area for visitors to view such birds.

To do this he created five large bird boxes intended to house bigger bird species such as ducks and owls. He also created five small boxes that are used by smaller birds like bluebirds and sparrows.

In addition to the bird boxes, he cleared an area behind the barn looking out at an area frequented by birds and other wildlife. Eventually this area will have benches for observation and encompass a small library for self-guided exploration. In addition to the library, one of each size box was left at the observation area for people to see up close, for educational purposes.

Fowler coordinated with Henryk Teraszkiewicz at the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary to plan the project and worked with a group of scouts and scout leaders from Troop 70, as well as volunteers, to bring the project to fruition.

Fowler continued to build on his scouting experience after high school graduation while studying Conservation Law Enforcement at Unity College in Unity, Maine. The pandemic disruption led him to pivot and pursue a career in firefighting. He is currently employed as a full-time firefighter and EMT in Skowhegan, Maine.

“Scouts prepared me well for life and I had a lot of fun being a scout,” said Fowler. “Scouting gave me real skills I carried on into my daily life.”

Outdoor Chapel Renovated

Tokar, in June 2019, remodeled and renovated the outdoor chapel for St Rose of Lima Church.

Tokar is an alumnus of St Rose School and has been active in the parish for over a decade. He has always enjoyed the reflection and chapel area at the back of the St Rose campus and noticed that it was not getting as much usage as when he was a student. He approached Msgr Weiss about an Eagle project to improve the site and they agreed to make some much-needed repairs, build new seating, and add some landscaping.

He is grateful to Hollandia Nursery and Ring’s End Lumber for their advice and donation of materials to enhance the beauty of the site. With the help of several scouts, Tokar removed moss and other weeds damaging the bricks, planted several boxwoods and repaired and repainted the cross that anchors the space. New benches were constructed so visitors could enjoy the area more comfortably.

Tokar is a junior in the UConn Honors Program studying Economics and Chinese. He recently completed an exchange semester at the National University of Singapore. Tokar regularly puts his Scouting experience to good use in his personal and professional endeavors, whether hiking volcanic craters in Indonesia or leading a Model United Nations geopolitical discussion about tensions in the South China Sea.

“It’s nice having a ceremony after the pandemic disrupted everything,” said Tokar. “It’s nice to see everyone and feels nice to be recognized.”

Pollinator Project

Stutman, in September 2020, converted a stone foundation into a pollinator garden at the Cherry Grove Preserve for the Newtown Forest Association (NFA). A pollinator garden provides native plants that attract and nourish pollinating insects and birds. The project was chosen after Stutman approached the Newtown Forest Association looking for a project.

The stone foundation of a former one-room schoolhouse on Palestine Road was transformed into a pollinator garden full of native plants. Along with the plants, a sign was installed that reads: “This site is on the Pollinator Pathway. These pesticide-free native plants provide food for birds, bees, butterflies, and other pollinating insects.”

The sign directs residents to the website, pollinator-pathway.org, which explains the local efforts of Protect Our Pollinators (POP), a group devoted to supporting pollinator health and habitat.

“Some of my best memories of my childhood were in scouts,” said Stutman. “The skills and experience have prepared me for the real world work place and I actively use what I learned.”

Reblazing Trails

Zibluk, in August 2021, reblazed the trail network and rerouted problem areas around the wetlands at Nettleton Preserve for the NFA.

The NFA owns a lot of properties in Newtown and over time some trails on these properties become unusable and unsafe. Zibluk decided that for his project he would look to redo the trail system at one of these properties and make it both hikeable and more easily usable again.

This included linking two trails that are not currently connected to make it possible for the public to avoid some of the dangerous swampy area. It also included re-marking and re-blazing all the other trails on the property so everyone is able to walk them without confusion and can easily follow the marked colors for each trail. Finally, it included clearing dozens of fallen trees/logs, branches and invasive vines on the trails that currently made some trails unpassable.

This allowed the public to more safely and easily hike the new trail system.

“I’m excited,” said Zibluk. “This is a good end to a long journey. I enjoyed the experience and I use the things I learned every day.”

Building A Bridge

Barbagallo, in October 2021, designed and built a 25-foot steel beam trail bridge over Deep Brook for the town of Newtown, linking all hiking trails behind Reed School.

Barbagallo’s scouting career with Troop 70 began in the spring of 2015 when he crossed over from Cub Scout Pack 170 (Sandy Hook Elementary School) to join the Cullen’s BSA Troop. His Eagle project was chosen after discussions with both Newtown officials and the Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation regarding the need for an additional access route between Reed Elementary School and the adjacent hiking trails, and the Foundation’s open space.

The comprehensive project required the design and building of a 25-foot bridge spanning Deep Brook. After several design iterations and technical reviews the final design was selected.

Raising funds for the materials entailed some creativity due to limitations imposed by Covid restrictions. Barbagallo reached out to a number of local businesses regarding the project and was thrilled with the very positive and generous support he received.

The bridge was constructed in phases, both at the Deep Brook location as well as at home, pre-assembling portions of the bridge indoors and then transporting them to the work site. The bridge assembly was completed on January 9, 2021 with the help of many of the troop’s scouts, parents, and friends contributing their time and efforts.

Associate Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.