4 April 2009
Saturday’s Special Eagle Nest – The Boys of 104
Posted by admin under: recognition .
So, it’s been a while since I’ve done an Eagle’s Nest and it coincides with a bushelful of Eagles our troop has produced recently. So, I’m going to list them.
California
I’ve known Noah Placensia since he joined Scouting in 1997 when his mom, Norma, started a Tiger den. He earned his Arrow of Light in 2002 and shortly afterwards bridged up to Troop 104 in Mission Hills beginning the Eagle patrol with his old den mates. His father, Robert, took on Advancement duties while his mother worked as the troop Outings chair. Not surprisingly Noah earned many merit badges and went on most outings, especially the summer camps that his dad organized each year. Each year his dad would announce that he wasn’t sure if Noah was staying in past the current year, but each year they would participate as often as ever and finally in 2008 Noah chose his Eagle project to coincide with the Los Angeles city vision of one million trees planted to make the city greener. Noah found a nearby park, Granada Hills Community Park, where the city had removed some diseased and damaged trees. Noah worked with the local environmental group Tree People. He had to train himself and others in the proper installation of trees to ensure they would take root and survive the punishing L.A. summers. Despite his participation on the varsity football team at school, Noah executed his Eagle project at the same time as holding the position of Troop Scribe. I’m still waiting for the invitation to his Court of Honor.
Daniel Gomez transferred into Troop 104 looking for a little more challenge. Danny, as the troop knows him, served two terms as troop Quartermaster and two terms as the SPL. His father, Francisco, served as a committed Assistant Scoutmaster and coached several Boy Scouts as an Eagle Advisor. His mother, Rosalia, also offered her support to her men. Danny’s Eagle project was to build an outdoor grilling area at his church, Saint Didacus, in San Fernando. This included electrical and plumbing work as well as well as bricklaying. Unfortunately, I had to miss his Court of Honor because my Cub Scout pack was having its Blue and Gold banquet and I’m the den leader. I did help get his Eagle memory board put together so I don’t feel completely left out. Danny and his dad then started a Venture Crew based at their church which is a friendly competitor with the Venture Crew our troop’s Scoutmaster started at about the same time.
Sean Doherty also transferred into Troop 104 when his old troop disbanded. He never quite gelled with the other guys because of his devoted efforts with his school band and church which prevented him from being able to attend any of the troop outings. He had already completed his leadership requirement before finishing his last year in Scouting with our troop. His Eagle project was to repaint the playground equipment at his church. As an honest Boy Scout he gave his Eagle Board of Review a fearful moment when they were trying to decide if he had met the requirement of active participation in the program, but our current Advancement Chair was called on to provide background and he was able to describe Sean’s devotion to his church which prevented other participation. Sean’s Eagle Court of Honor is this weekend, but I’m not attending due to an unfortunately mix-up of troop and personal conflicts.
Justin Llaguno was a member of the Knights patrol before he aged out at 18 years old. Prior to this he was a patrol leader. For his Eagle project he repainted all of the outdoor cafeteria tables at his church, Our Lady of Peace, in North Hills. Justin was one of the cool guys in the Knights and got into his share of trouble at the occasional campout, but was always respectful to the leaders. Being somewhat strict I ended up sending him home once when he tried to have me review his Eagle book wearing shorts and flip-flops which I viewed as being a little less respect for the rank than was proper. By the end of the meeting he was in proper uniform after racing home and I was able to cheerfully approve his application to become an Eagle Scout. I hope to hear about his Eagle Court of Honor sometime in the near future.
Edward Rubio was another Knight and a consummate judge of what behavior worked in which situations. He also served as a patrol leader and also served as Troop Scribe for a term. Edward always knew how to handle adults and when he was on his own or mentoring younger Scouts he was a model Boy Scout. With his old friends in his patrol, however, he ended up helping to earn some stern looks as campouts. When one of his buddies wasn’t able to get his Eagle project organized in enough time before his 18th birthday, Edward took over the project and made sure that his church, Our Lady of Peace, was able to get their game and food booths reconditioned in time for their fiesta event which helps to drive their neighborhood fundraising. Edward’s ability to judge his situations and willingness to take on responsibility is probably what got him into the Air Force Academy as a cadet where he is training today. I don’t know when we’ll ever see his Eagle Court; it was difficult enough just to get his Board of Review scheduled on a short leave home from school. He did it, however, and goes up on the troop’s plaque as one of our Eagles.
William Wright is a weird combination of problem child and a Boy Scout of outstanding accomplishment. I just attended his Court of Honor and his mom told the story about him that was carried in our local paper. William’s mom, Barbara, wanted him to be in Cub Scouts and took him to a Tiger meeting here he cried all the way because he didn’t want to go. A month later he was leading the pledge of allegiance at the pack meeting and talked his mom into become his den leader the following year. His father, Chris, assumed the Cubmaster duties in 2000 and has been in that position for the last 9 years for all three of his sons. William’s tagline, “Vote for me as SPL. Make the Wright choice” never quite earned him the top spot, but he did serve as a patrol leader of the Knights until attrition thinned the ranks to the point where the remaining members were transferred to other patrols. William served as troop bugler for 3 years and also served as the troop’s bagpiper in which he played during parades, Memorial Day celebrations before Los Angeles city officials, and as personal escort to Mayor Villaraigosa. During the troop’s major outing to Hawaii in 2005 he and another Boy Scout saved an exhausted swimmer while snorkeling in strong surf. This incident earned him the Boy Scout Heroism Award. His aspiration to become a filmmaker drove what he had hoped would be his Eagle Project; he made a documentary about 9/11 entitled “So Others May Live”. His documentary took him to New York City where he interviewed firefighters who lost comrades in the Twin Towers. Unfortunately, William started this project while he was a First Class rank which took it out of the procedure of being an approved Life Rank Eagle Project. Not to be deterred, William raised funds and built a media center at the Los Angeles Historical Fire Museum wherein his movie is looped although the museum can elect to put other films on display, too. He also gave his leftover funds for his project to the museum which started a discussion between me and Ask Andy since this is technically against the rules in the Eagle Project book. We found a technicality in that his book was from a previous version which didn’t have this restriction so we could approve his project and William joined the ranks of 104’s Eagles.
Spencer Bakst hasn’t had his Eagle Court of Honor yet, but has been approved by our district’s Board of Review. Spencer was one of three Boy Scouts who had a spate of Tree People tree planting projects around the same time last summer. I gave Spencer a bit of a hard time because I knew he was capable of a project that would display his ability to lead better, but he staunchly defended his choice and I acquiesced to his arguments while making some minor notes in his write-up. Spencer had a rough time. He looks like a Greek god in physique, but actually has a frail constitution and is constantly fighting allergies, infections, and injuries from his varsity football team. His father, Brian, is a huge, gregarious man who suffered from a serious medical condition at the same time Spencer’s mom, Roberta, was fighting her own chronic conditions. Through it all Spencer served as Troop guide, finished his Order of the Arrow Ordeal, and was also patrol leader for the Bottle Rockets when they captured the top spot at the annual Camporee which combined two districts. Spencer ably led his tree planting project, improving a stretch of Bee Canyon in Granada Hills. My son is currently wooing him to join our Venture Crew and my daughter’s friends wish they could woo him. And maybe that will help drive recruitment for the Venture Crew, too. 
Alan Tran was a den mate of Noah Placensia’s and it was a toss-up which one of them would achieve Eagle first. Noah did, but Alan had his Court of Honor first so it’s a judgment call now. Alan’s mom, Lan, took a flier from me in front of his grade school when I was trying to recruit new boys into my Wolf den since I had taken over the leader position from Noah’s mom. This made a big impression on the Tran family that I didn’t realize until recently. I cajoled just about every parent at some point to serve as a leader in the den and Alan’s dad, Chieu, was no exception. When the family moved 20 miles north of our neighborhood I figured it was only a matter of time before Alan quit the troop and joined one closer to his home, but he hooked up with another family coming from that direction and commuted to our Tuesday night meetings for years. Alan had to really persevere on his Eagle project because various adults wouldn’t respond in a timely manner forcing him to reschedule his project twice before he finally got it worked out. There is a section of the hiking trail at Placerita Canyon Nature Center that has a little of his and my sweat mixed in with the rebuilt and widened trails. At his Court of Honor a couple weeks ago I was surprised and happy to receive a mentor pin from him for getting him started and helping him achieve his Arrow of Light in Cub Scouts and Eagle Rank in Boy Scouts.
All of these boys have had recent Courts of Honor or are yet to hold them although they’ve all achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. I believe the troop’s count of Eagles is at 97 during our 54 year history. We also have one young man waiting for his Board of Review and at least two actively working on their Eagle Projects. I’ve become a little guilty at the rate we’ve been turning out Eagles, but if the boys are going to do the work then I’m going to have to survive the reputation of being an “Eagle mill”.
Unfortunately, it has taken me so long to type this post I’ve missed the east coast midnight deadline so it will be going in with a date of Sunday. That’s this Saturday’s special Eagle Nest saluting the Eagles of Troop 104.
- Saturday’s Eagle Nest – 02/14/2009 (delayed)
- Saturday’s Eagle Nest (delayed) – 04/21/2009
- Saturday’s Eagle Nest – 10/18/2008
- Updated Boy Scout Eagle Project Workbook
- BSA & Cubs: Life Is A Picnic
