Four Valley Stream scouts soar to Eagle

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After committing to hundreds of hours of community service in the pursuit of the Scouts BSA’s highest rank, four Valley Streamers from Troop 109 on Jan. 11 officially became Eagle Scouts.

Among the recipients at the Eagle Scout ceremony held at the Grace United Methodist Church were brothers Nicholas and Edwin Ortiz, Jonathan Prashad and John Biegler. 

According to the organization, nearly 6.5 percent of scouts made Eagle in 2018, and while the overall number of Eagle Scout recipients has increased over the past decade, it is still a rare feat.

“As the Scoutmaster of Troop 109 I am honored and privileged to help mentor these young men as they experience the scouting journey,” Troop 109 Scoutmaster Ron Healy said. “To achieve the rank of Eagle Scout is a testament of their commitments to their families, churches and the community.”

The Ortiz brothers both attend St. Mary’s High School in Manhasset. Nicholas, the younger of the two, refurbished a seating area at the rear of the Pagan-Fletcher Restoration, a historic building in the neighborhood, while Edwin worked with the Valley Stream Historical Society, which operates the restoration to replant the house’s herb garden and restore its Victorian garden and bird bath.

Prashad is currently an undergraduate student at SUNY Binghamton University, and as part of his project collected 700 pairs of gently worn shoes for donation to Soles for Souls, a non-profit dedicated to providing shoes to those in need worldwide, and Biegler, a freshman at Baruch College in Manhattan, made numerous repairs and upgrades to the American Legion Post 44 in Malverne for his project.

In addition to serving as a momentous occasion for the four teenagers, the ceremony was also a celebration of Troop 109’s 94th anniversary since it’s founding on Jan. 9, 1926.

Correction: A previous version of this article erroneously misstated Nicholas Ortiz's  Eagle Scout project. He refurbished a seating area behind the restoration, not inside the building.