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Overcast East Meadow berm site gets some TLC
Troop 362 Boy Scout Nathan Kovoor gathers troops to clean up land
On his journey to Eagle Scout rank, 15-year-old Boy Scout Nathan Kovoor had to complete his life project, and he chose to beautify his East Meadow community.
On the corner of Bellmore Avenue and North Jerusalem Road sits an area of land left completely to nature. The only added addition is an elevated berm site with some soil and greenery.
“We’re here to clean up this berm, and we’re getting rid of all of the weeds,” said Nathan, who joined the troop about six years ago. “It’s something that’s good for everyone and it’s good to help out the community.”
The Council of East Meadow Community Organizations adopted the land in 1993 when it originally built the berm out of wood. Joseph Parisi, the current president of CEMCO, and then-legislator Norma Gonsalves, got the money to build the berm. “They planted perennials, the bushes and they had a cherry tree on top,” Scoutmaster of Troop 362 Jim Surless said. “But unfortunately the tree fell.”
The last big cleanup of the area was in 2018 when Parisi, Gonsalves, and Frank Camarano landscaped the foliage, installed weed barriers and constructed the stone wall. It was Nathan’s turn and he wanted to weed out whatever needed to discarded.
“He’s practicing his project skills, earning community service hours and doing his job,” Surless said. “His job is to run the project and communicate with the necessary people, and organize materials and get help.”
There is a workbook that Nathan had to follow in order to successfully complete his project and earn his badge. This is a smaller version of what his Eagle Scout project will be, and it helps him learn what it takes to manage a larger service project. Surless said that the troop and scoutmasters typically help the scouts prepare themselves.
Nathan started planning his project by reaching out to Parisi in the middle of July, but there’s typically no timeframe for a project like this, according to Surless. It’s up to the scout to get his materials, set a date and rain date, make a flyer, and get everyone together.
“We had to prepare food and refreshments, we had to have a sign in sheet, and some safety measures,” Nathan said. “I had to ask other scouts to help me too.”
It takes about two years to get from this level in the Boy Scouts to Eagle Scout. It’s not just planning projects. There are a number of merit badges a scout like Nathan has to earn. He has to be active in the troop and has to help other people as well with their projects.
“I love seeing the boys learn how to communicate and tell other people what they’re doing,” Surless said. “He’s grown through the ranks. He’s learning how to not just become part of a team, but now become part of a leader of a team, and that’s really what Scouting is all about.”
“We typically don’t meet during the summer so for him to even get a crew together was quite an accomplishment,” Surless added.
Nathan’s dad, Cherian Kovoor, was around to help his son get his project done as well. “I’m really proud that we got this project,” Cherian said. “This is useful to everyone, and the whole neighborhood can enjoy it. These kids are looking like role models for other kids.”
The berm site looked a lot cleaner after Troop 362 was done with it, and Nathan said that he’s looking forward to people noticing the change. “I’m mostly excited on how people are going to be when they see how we cleaned up the berm, and I’m excited for my badge.”
