Boy Scout Troop 26, who are sponsored by the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme and hold their meetings at the Lyme Fire House, will be hosting a very special event next month, as they honor two young men who have achieved Scouting’s Highest Rank, Eagle Scout. Luke Grabowski and Owen Mesham have completed the rigorous requirements and will be presented their awards at an Eagle Scout Court of Honor on Saturday, Feb. 7, in Old Lyme.
The fact that a young man is an Eagle Scout has always carried with it a special significance, not only in Scouting, but also as he enters higher education, business or industry, and community service. Achieving the rank requires perseverance to complete the extensive requirements list over a scouting career, culminating in a significant Service Project that the Scout must both design and lead. The project must also require a substantial amount of planning and coordination. Only about five percent of all Boy Scouts earn the rank of Eagle Scout.
Grabowski’s service project was construction of a bridge on the Honey Hill Preserve in Lyme. With the guidance of the Lyme Land Conservation Trust, he planned and led the construction of a bridge roughly 35 ft. in length that connected two sides of a trail over a stream on the Preserve. Grabowski prepared the blueprints, obtained materials and led fellow troop members in the construction last summer. He is a senior at Lyme-Old Lyme High School, whose future plans include attending college in the fall of 2015 to pursue a bachelor’s degree.
Mesham’s project was to construct a 28 ft. long wooden foot bridge that spanned a stream in the Lyme Land Conservation Trust’s Gungy Preserve in Lyme. The bridge is for hikers, but it was specially designed to facilitate mountain bikers also. Behind the construction phase of the bridge were many hours of designing, gathering materials, communicating and coordinating with the troop. Mesham, who is currently a senior at the Sound School in New Haven, has received a congressional nomination to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, in King’s Point, N.Y., and hopes to receive an appointment this spring. If accepted, he plans on majoring in Marine Transportation.
Both boys will be honored at a Court of Honor to be held at 2 p.m. on Feb. 7, at the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme on Ferry Rd., Old Lyme.