Valley Stream troop honors four new Eagle Scouts

Valley Stream’s Troop 116 conferred the title of Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America, to four members at their Eagle Courts of Honor Dec. 11. The four honorees—Haiden Danto-Scanlan, Christopher Rakeman, Nathaniel N. Redillo, and Joshua Thomson—stood before a crowd of village dignitaries, proud family members and friends, and many fellow scouts at the auditorium of Holy Name of Mary School. Veteran Eagle Scouts were also there to honor and recognize the hard-won achievement of the honorees.
Among numerous awards and proclamations, the four scouts were pinned with the Eagle Scout medal and a new neckerchief with the emblazoned eagle, representing the best efforts and values of the BSA. It is a distinction only 4 percent of scouts attain.
Of the many intense requirements needed to earn the Eagle Scout rank is a minimum of 21 merit badges and completion of a community-service project, commonly known as the Eagle project. Scouts are tasked with planning and leading a project that benefits other people and tests their leadership skills.
Scanlan, who had since the beginning of his scouting adventure in 2010 dreamed of making Eagle, undertook a massive renovation of the Scholar’s Academy’s musical instruments storage room in Rockaway for his service project. While preparedness is a main credo of the Boy Scouts, his initial pre-pandemic project plan did not anticipate the major school health restrictions caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. Although his plan had to be rehashed, Scanlan nevertheless persisted. The result: He revamped the storage room, fashioning it with a custom guitar rack to hold 36 of the school’s guitars and fund-raised more than $4,000 for new instruments for the school.
Rakeman, who was a dedicated volunteer at Camp ANCHOR, a local camp serving disabled children and adults in the Town of Hempstead, decided for his service project to spruce up the camp’s surf shed, which needed repair, in time for the Camp Anchor Surf Program. On top of his remodeling, Rakeman fund-raised more than $2,000 for the program, crediting the backing of his fellow troop members for getting him to the finish line.
Redillo brainstormed an Eagle project that would have a widespread impact and greatly serve people in need. An admitted sneakerhead, Redillo researched online for a non-profit and found Soles4Souls, which collects gently used footwear and distributes it nationwide and around the world to people in need. With plucky ingenuity, scout-like resourcefulness and sheer grit, Redillo collected 653 pairs of new and used footwear throughout his final time in high school.
Thomson, a Valley Stream South High graduate, installed a bicycle-repair station at Arthur J. Hendrickson Park for the pleasure of bike goers and residents alike. The idea for his project came when he observed bike-repair stations at other parks and thought to provide the same benefits to residents in his hometown. The station can perform basic bike repairs and maintenance, from changing a flat tire to adjusting brakes.