Southborough Troop 1 celebrates three new Eagle Scouts

Above: Nate Lowell, Mark Kerstens and Jon Willis shortly after their Eagle Court of Honor ceremony (contributed photo)

Earlier this month three Southborough boys earned the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout. It’s quite an accomplishment for a scout. Read more about how they achieved it in this report sent in by a My Southborough reader:

August 1, 1912, marked the first time a Boy Scout achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest award in scouting. On August 18, 2012, one hundred years and approximately two million Eagle Scouts later, three Boy Scouts from Troop 1 in Southborough celebrated that same achievement by taking the Eagle Oath in front of friends, family and community members at the Pilgrim Church.

Mark Kerstens, Nathan Lowell and Jon Willis all attained the rank of Eagle Scout within the past few months by completing projects in the Southborough community. In order to qualify for the Eagle rank, the Scout must earn 21 merit badges and successfully complete an Eagle project which demonstrates planning, execution and leadership of a community-service project before they are 18 years old. About 4% of all Boy Scouts complete the requirements to become Eagle Scouts. Troop 1 now boasts 66 Eagle Scouts, starting in 1925 through present day.

Below are descriptions of their projects:

• Mark led a team to blaze the Bay Path Connector Trail from the Breakneck Hill Conservation Land to the Bay Path Trail. This involved building box steps and an 80 foot board walk over wetland.
• Nate led a team to create a digital catalogue of the old stone walls of Southborough. The catalogue contained geo-tagged photos and damage assessments of the many stone walls along the streets of the town so that they could be repaired over time by the Department of Public Works.
• Jon led a team to revitalize the Templeman Woods Trail along Route 85, a property owned by the Southborough Open Land Foundation. This required building three new foot bridges and redefining the trail to make it safer and more accessible to all town citizens.

During the Eagle Court of Honor, each of the Eagle Scouts thanked their families, the Troop, friends and all community partners that made their projects and Eagle rank achievement possible.

All three Eagle Scouts are headed to college this fall. Mark will attend Siena College in Loudonville, NY where he plans to major in Biology on the pre-med track. Nate will attend the Georgia Institute of Technology, majoring in Computer Science. Jon will attend the University of Denver, where he will study Business.

Please join me in congratulating Mark, Nate, and Jon on their impressive accomplishment.