The Few, The Proud, The Eagle Scouts

It’s not easy being an Eagle Scout.

Literally.

The Boy Scouts of America estimate that only about two percent of its members ever obtain the rank, which is part of the reason it was so startling Friday that BSA Troop 123 honored four new inductees into the ranks of Eagle Scout as part of a ceremony at Concordia Lutheran Church on Piktin Street.

Troop 123’s four new Eagle Scouts are: Nate Baranowski, Alex Pattacini, Will Kidder and Jake Nearine.

“To have four in one night from one troop really says a lot about Troop 123,” said Mayor Louis Spadaccini as he presented the new Eagle Scouts with official proclamations from the town of Manchester honoring their achievements.

Joining Spadaccini in his praise for the new scouts were State Representatives John Thompson and Geoff Luxenberg. The legislators also presented the new honorees with proclamations from the Connecticut General Assembly.

“I’ve never seen a group like this at an Eagle Scouts award dinner before,” said Thompson of Friday evening’s capacity crowd, which had to reach well over a hundred people.

U.S. Senator Joseph I. Lieberman and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy also sent letters praising the scouts for their achievement.

According to the Boy Scouts of America, to obtain the rank of Eagle Scout a scout must earn a total of 21 merit badges and display “the principles of the Scout Oath and Law in your daily life.”

Baranowski, a 17-year old senior at Manchester High School, helped to repair the dam at Buckland Pond, as well as build a bridge and spread woodchips over a portion of the hiking trail that rings the pond as part of his Eagle Project.

Baranowski, who stared as a Cub Scout when he was 6 years old, said it was always a dream of his to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.

“Even as a Cub Scout, you hear about the Eagle and what it can do for you in life, “ said Baranowski. “So I’ve always wanted to get that.”

Pattacini, 18, a senior at Manchester High School, said that becoming an Eagle Scout had also been a longtime goal as well, since his father Chris Pattacini also earned the honor. Pattacini’s Eagle Project involved the installation of signposts and way finding signs along Case Mountain.

“It was a goal since my dad signed me up,” said Alex Pattacini. “He wanted me to do it since he did it, and since his dad was never able to do it.”

Chris Pattacini serves as the current chairman of the Board of Education.

Kidder, a 17-year old senior at Great Path Academy, said it required a lot of hard work and determination to earn the rank of Eagle Scout – he said he began in the scouts when he was seven years old – but that Friday night’s ceremony, and the lifelong honor of being an Eagle Scout, made it all worth it. He said the most difficult badge he had to earn was the one for wilderness survival.

“Just because it involved a lot of hiking, building a shelter out of branches and logs,” Kidder said. “Anything you could find in the forest.”

For his final project, Kidder helped to install water bars along a portion of the Case Mountain hiking trail.

While Nearine, an 18-year old senior at Manchester High School, said that he was “very happy” to become an Eagle Scout, satisfying a goal of his when he first joined the scouts at the age of six. His Eagle Project involved the installation of new boardwalks, handrails and drainage pipes along the Laurel Marsh trail.

“It’s a great feeling to have finally achieved this,” Nearine said.

Nearine has enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps after high school, while Friday’s three other Eagle Scouts will undoubtedly also benefit from the honor of being an Eagle Scout throughout the rest of their lives.

Troop 123 has had 63 Eagle Scouts, including all four of Friday’s honorees.