Brothers Receive Eagle Award

Brothers Donald and Brian Rowe both received the Eagle Award from the Boy Scouts of America on June 23 at the Sandy Hook United Methodist Church. They are members of BSA Troop 370 of Sandy Hook.

The Eagle Award is the highest rank in Boy Scouting and is awarded after achieving the rank of Life Scout, earning 21 merit badges and completing a community service project. The project must be helpful to the community and demonstrate organizational and leadership skills. Finally a panel of adult leaders reviews the scout, examining his project and his scouting history.

Donald chose as his project the renovation of trails between Treadwell Park and Sandy Hook School. After clearing away some undergrowth, he mapped, measured, and marked the trails. A sign was created by the Sign Shop of Newtown and erected at the trail head in the park.

Brian’s project was the construction of a handicapped-accessible poured concrete sidewalk at Nunnawauk Meadows. The walk linked a gazebo to the parking lot, allowing residents easy access across a grassy field.

Barbara Kasbarian of Newtown Parks & Recreation and Frank DeLucia of Nunnawauk Meadows sponsored and guided the projects. Both projects were completed with all volunteer labor from friends, family, and fellow scouts. All materials were donated by local businesses.

Donald is a recent graduate of Newtown High School and will be attending Kettering University in Flint, Michigan, with a major in mechanical engineering. He currently is employed at Sikorsky as part of the co-op program at Kettering.

Brian will be a senior at Newtown High School in September. Over the summer he is working as an intern at the high school for the Summer Theater Connection. With a strong interest in computers, he is looking at universities with programs in computer engineering.

Both Donald and Brian have been members of Troop 370 since crossing over from Cub Scouts. The troop has a long history in scouting and has helped an impressive number of scouts gain the skills and maturity necessary to become Eagle scouts.