Medfield's Troop 89 Honors and Celebrates New Eagle Scouts

The following was submitted by Stephen Callahan of Medfield's Troop 89.

Eagle Scout is the highest, most prestigious and coveted rank in Scouting. It is the last major step in the Scouting advancement program. Only five to six percent of all Scouts in the United States attain this level of achievement.

The awarding of the rank of Eagle Scout is an important and serious occasion. It acknowledges the fulfillment of a goal for which a Scout must work many years to achieve.  Achieving this highest rank in scouting requires hundreds of hours in merit badge work, troop leadership, community service and culminates in an Eagle Project planned and led by the scout.

On June 1, 2013, three scouts from Troop 89, James Callahan, Mathew McKinney and Parker Wooden were honored at their Eagle Court of Honor at the United Church of Christ in Medfield.

The ceremony attracted local and state dignitaries including State Senator James Timilty, State Representative Denise Garlick, and Town Selectmen Richard DeSorgher, Mark Fisher and Osler “Pete” Peterson.

The Master of Ceremonies and Troop Committee Chair Jim Schwartz welcomed family and friends. Patti Schwartz, the Troop’s Advancement Chair, not only catalogued, tracked and recited the long list of the boys’ achievements and qualifications, but worked hard to organize the wonderful ceremony.

Father Leroy Owens of St. Edward the Confessor Parish delivered the invocation, followed by Scoutmaster Rick McKinney’s commencement remarks to the Court. Virtually the entire troop, adult leaders and especially the Scouts themselves had a role in the affair, and more importantly, in the success of the Troop to bring the three honorees to the highest level in Scouting.

Praise and gift-giving followed, with former Scoutmaster, and still current assistant, Michael McGowan, presenting his traditional pocket-watch gift to the new Eagles. McGowan also acknowledged a milestone for Troop 89 by pointing out that “this group of Eagle Scouts now makes 100 eagle scouts in Troop 89”.  Outgoing Scoutmaster Rick McKinney offered his own traditional gift, the Scouts’ first Eagle Feather, to commemorate their first step into adult leadership.  Gerry Kazanjian, current Seven Rivers District Unit Commissioner, had words of praise for the scouts and as has been his long standing practice, collected the autographs of the newest Eagles.

Troop 89’s official sponsor, the American Legion, Beckwith Post #110, through its Adjutant, Tony Centore, recognized each Eagle with an ornate plaque noting their achievement. Offers of Resolutions and Official Citations in the State Capitol were made, as noted by Representatives Garlick and Senator Timilty.  

Rep. Garlick stated that while those present had come to honor them – “these young men have honored us”.  Senator Timilty pointed out that these boys have gotten to the pinnacle of scouting, and mentioned that he “looks forward to extraordinary things in the future”.  Selectmen Peterson spoke of how “proud and thankful the Town of Medfield was for what they have done for the town”. 

Each Eagle received letters of congratulations from dignitaries, including President Barack Obama, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren, United States Senator Senator William “Mo” Cowan, and United States Congressman Joseph P Kennedy III.

The following is a biographical summary of Troop 89’s newest Eagles:

James Callahan

James began scouting in 2008 when he joined Troop 89.  On his trail to Eagle, James earned a total of 29 merit badges. 

James demonstrated his leadership ability within Troop 89 in the capacities of Quartermaster, Assistant Patrol Leader, Patrol Leader, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, Senior Patrol Leader and Junior Assistant Scoutmaster.  He attended the 2010 BSA National Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia and participated in a 100 mile canoe trip on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway in Maine.  In addition he is a Brotherhood member of the Order of the Arrow.

James’s Eagle Scout Service Project involved replacing a low-lying bridge on a trail in the Noon Hill Reservation.  James worked with Mike Francis of The Trustees of Reservations and determined that a longer 27 foot bridge should be constructed a foot higher than the existing foot bridge to prevent mud and flooding on the bridge.   

They also decided to install a handrail on the downward slope of the bridge as a safety feature for bikers.  James’ project was completed in three phases.  The first phase consisted of building the base of the bridge and constructing the handrail.  Phase two, consisted of preparing the site by removing the old bridge and staking out the specific location of the concrete bases.  The biggest obstacle in this phase was removing hidden rocks so the bridge would be level.  Phase three was the construction of the bridge.  Once this was done, an erosion bar was built to help divert the rainwater away from the bridge.  In addition, stones were added to the sides under the bridge to divert the rainwater to flow downhill and away from the bridge.  James project took a total of 254 hours to complete.

James completed his trail to Eagle on October 25, 2012 when he completed his Eagle Board of Review.

James is currently a sophomore at Medfield High School where he has been the President of the Class of 2015 for both years. James played soccer on the JV2 team his freshman year and has been on the Tennis JV team both freshman and sophomore year. 

James takes honors classes and has maintained honor roll status.  He is a member of both the National Honor Society and the French Honor Society.  He has received the “Above and Beyond Academic Awards” for English, Social Studies, Music and Wellness, and the “Shining Star Award” which is given to students in the top 10% academically.  He also received the “Blue and White Award” which is the highest academic award an underclassman can receive.

In pursuit of his passion for history and government, he founded and is currently the President of the school’s Junior States of America Chapter.  He is also a member of the school’s Mock Trial Team.  Last summer, James gave historical tours of the Massachusetts State House.

James plays the violin in the Medfield High School Orchestra and Chamber Ensemble. He plays the viola in the Metro West Youth Symphony Orchestra and played the violin for the 2012 MMEA Eastern Junior District Orchestra.  He also sings in the Jazz Choir and is a member of Medfield Drama Club.

This summer James will be attending the Junior States of America Summer Program at Georgetown University where he will study Constitutional Law.

Matthew “Matty”McKinney

Matty began scouting in 2009 when he joined Troop 89.  On his trail to Eagle, Matty earned a total of 37 merit badges.    

Matty demonstrated his leadership ability within Troop 89 in the capacities of Assistant Patrol Leader, Quartermaster, Patrol Leader, and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader. In addition, he is a member of the Order of the Arrow. 

Matty’s Eagle Scout Service Project involved educating and informing the people of Medfield not to dispose of harmful materials down storm drains.  His project had two major components.  First, Matty worked closely with Ken Feeney, Superintendent of Public Works to target areas where curb markers could be placed throughout the town.  This entailed cleaning the area around the storm drains of debris, such as trash, glass, and leaves.  After that was done, a wire brush was used to remove any imbedded dirt on the curb or pavement.  The loose dirt was swept up and then the Curb Marker was attached.  There are approximately 2100 storm drains in Medfield.  The original plan was to clean and label 600 for his project.  Matty went above and beyond this original plan and labeled 1800 storm drains.  The second part of the project was educating the citizens on the importance of not disposing of motor oil, dog droppings, and pesticides into the storm drains because it flows to the Charles River.  Matty contacted the Medfield Green Committee to let them know about his project.  He developed an educational flyer and posted it on the Medfield Patch and on the town website.  The project took 274 hours to complete.

Matty completed his trail to Eagle on October 25, 2012 when he completed his Eagle Board of Review.

Matty is currently a freshman at Medfield High School.  He has been involved with the Medfield Music Program since Middle School.  He currently plays the Bass and previously played Bass for the Blake Middle School Orchestra for three years and plans to continue to play in High School. 

Matty has a passion for working with animals and wants to be a Wildlife Veterinarian so he can work at either a zoo or animal sanctuary.  Because of his interest in animals, he joined the local 4-H program Thunderhill where he belongs to both the Thunderhill Sheep Club and the Thunderhill Canine Experience.

Parker Wooden

Parker began scouting in 2008 when he first joined Troop 89.  On his trail to Eagle, Parker earned a total of 27 merit badges. 

Parker demonstrated his leadership ability within Troop 89 in the capacities of Quartermaster, Assistant Patrol Leader, Patrol Leader, and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader.  Parker participated in a 100 mile canoe trip on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway in Maine.  In addition, he is a member of the Order of the Arrow.

Parker’s Eagle Scout Project involved refurbishing and then painting the entrance building and storage shed at Hinkley Pond.  He worked with Jim Snyder, director of Medfield Park and Recreation to select and determine the scope of his project.  The project was completed in three phases.  First, he had to prepare the area by removing brush from around both the storage shed and entrance building.  A large tree limb that was lying on the guard building also needed to be removed.  The second phase was the most labor intensive as both buildings were power washed and then scraped.  Since the buildings hadn’t been maintained in a while, there was quite a bit of scraping of flaky paint.  The final phase consisted of painting both buildings with two coats of paint.  The project took 205 hours to complete.

Parker completed his trail to Eagle on July 26, 2012 when he completed his Eagle Board of Review. 

Shortly after completing his project, Parker and his family moved to Woodlands, Texas but he wanted to come back to Troop 89 so he could be recognized with his fellow Scouts. 

Parker is currently completing his sophomore year at The John Cooper School, which is a private college prep high school.  He is on the Honor Roll, is actively involved with the Junior States of America Organization, and is the starting linebacker for the varsity football team.

As a freshman, Parker attended Xaverian Brothers High School where he was an Honor Roll student.  He attended middle school at the Carrol School where he received the perfect attendance award all three years, was an Honor Roll student, was selected Citizen of the Year, received a poetry award, and in the 8th grade was the Student Council Treasurer.  Parker was the 9th grade Pop Warner Football Captain and was nominated and accepted an invitation to “Football University”. 

Parker has ambitions to earn a law degree and to be active in the legal community.  He is especially interested in the criminal justice field and specifically defending clients wrongly accused of crimes.  He is not sure where he will attend college, but he is currently interested in the University of Texas and Rice University.