Local Scouts Earn Top Honor

Today is a very special day for the members of local Boy Scout Troop 33.

After years of hard work and service, the seven young men will receive the scout's top honor: Eagle Scout.

The ceremony is being held today at 2 p.m. in the Fanwood Presbyterian Church sanctuary. A reception will follow in Westminster Hall.

Before they could receive the title of Eagle Scout, the troops had to complete a service project to demonstrate leadership in the community.

• Eric Williams made improvements to the Fanwood Presbyterian Church youth lounge, which, after years of no use, had become rundown. "I wanted that changed, so I took it on," Williams said. Over what he said was approximately 500 hours of service, Williams installed new carpet, new paint and other necessary steps to repair the room.

• Paul Spicer lanscaped the grounds of Fanwood Presbyterian Church. Spicer said that before his project, much of the grounds of the church was overgrown and dying. To fix that, Spicer removed many of the old trees and bushes and replaced them with flowers and other new plants. "It was a big success, and it looks great so far," he said.

• Brian Northrup renovated the school at St. Mary's Church in Plainfield. Northrup said the school, which is used to teach religious classes, was rundown with old wallpaper and cracked tiles. Over approximately 450 hours, he removed the wallpaper, repainted the room and cleaned off the tiles.

• Jimmy Mei identified the location of storm drains in Fanwood. "Before the drains had painted fish on them, but that faded," Mei said. So, he decided to put plastic markers with bright colors and numbers on each drain to help the Public Works department identify them. Mei also put door hangers on every house in the area to notify them of his work.

• Thomas Loop III identified shade trees in Fanwood. The Fanwood Shade Tree Commission, Loop said, keeps a database of the area's trees, but it was more than 10 years outdated. Loop took it upon himself to identify the shade trees in the southern half of Fanwood, which equated to about 1,000 trees. 

• Christopher Lestarchick landscaped around the firefighter memorial at the Scotch Plains Fire Department. Lestarchick redid the walking path, planted flowers, repainted the statue, and added a bench.

• Michael Harrison organized and participated in a survey for the Fanwood Shade Tree Commission. Harrison identified the location, species and condition of shade trees in the area on the northside of town.