Eight members of Boy Scout Troop 23 were awarded the rank of Eagle Scout at a Court of Honor on February 6 at the Bel-Air Bay Club.
The young men, now sophomores in high school, started working towards this rank in fifth grade, under the supervision of Scoutmaster John Wilson. Each Scout earned a minimum of 21 badges, attended weekly meetings and monthly campouts, served at least six months in a leadership position within the troop, and participated in summer campouts.
The candidates—Neil Farnham, Daniel Hakman, Michael Lukasiak, Michael Paul, Michael Strelko, Glen “Charlie” Watts, Joel Rosenthal and William “Beau” Thetford—also planned and executed a 100-hour service project involving several other Scouts that benefited a community organization.
Hakman removed and rebuilt the obstacle course at the Palisades-Malibu YMCA property at Sunset; Strelko built and stained several large benches for the same property; and Watts built a wooden fence at the site.
Farnham constructed a fire circle and meditation area at the Palisades Lutheran Church. Paul made a portable lost-and-found closet for St. Anne’s School and Thetford built a planter box, planted winter plants and then planned a curriculum for a year-round kitchen garden program, also at St. Anne’s.
Lukasiak built a several-hundred-pound chessboard for Palisades Elementary.
Rosenthal’s project beautified the Temescal side of Pierson Playhouse, which entailed leveling the dirt, laying a ground cover, planting drought-resistant flowering plants and creating a wood-chip walkway.
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