Trio earns their Eagle rank

Three Boy Scouts from Valley Stream Troop 109 earned the highest honor in scouting on May 21, when they officially became Eagle Scouts.

Joe Cerulli, Keith Donovan and Evan Mladinov, all Malverne residents, earned their Eagle rank at a Court of Honor ceremony at Grace United Methodist School in Valley Stream. They were joined by their family members, fellow scouts and several local dignitaries.

“It was very nice and appreciated to see all of our families come out and be proud of us,” Cerulli said. “I felt accomplished.”

Cerulli is the elder statesman of the trio. He is a senior at Holy Trinity High School and will be attending St. Joseph’s University in the Philadelphia in the fall. He plans to major in business management.

Donovan and Mladinov are both in 10th grade. Donovan attends Valley Stream North High School and Mladinov is a student at Chaminade. They have been friends since their days attending kindergarten together at the James A. Dever School.

Each scout had to earn at least 21 merit badges and complete a community service project to become and Eagle Scout. Cerulli took his love of baseball and fixed up a field at Dever. He created a Little League regulation 60-foot infield. Whenever he sees people playing on it, he smiles. “I turned a little ugly field into something beautiful,” he said, “and it still looks nice today.”

Donovan built a sun shelter at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Preserve, as well as a roped fence along the water’s edge. He said completing this project was the biggest part of the Eagle Scout process. Mladinov built four tables and a computer desk for the Our Lady of Lourdes School in Malverne.

All three scouts say that their journey to the Eagle rank brought them closer to their family. For Cerulli, he said the process allowed him to connect with his father, and dedicates the honor to him. “He always told me the positive things about being a Boy Scout,” Cerulli said.

For Donovan, he followed the lead of his father and uncle, who are both Eagle Scouts. Donovan said he was interested in earning his Eagle rank as early as Cub Scouts. “I set y goal to become an Eagle Scout at a young age,” he said.