BELCHERTOWN – Two young men were charged with lofty marching orders Sunday as they received the highest rank bestowed by Boy Scouts of America.
Continuing an Eagle Scout Honor Roll that began in 2004, Wesley Lupa and Jared Kozlik were ushered into Belchertown-based Troop 57 once again – this time as the troop’s 26th and 27th Eagle Scouts.
Facing a crowd of some 100 family members and friends, the two 18-year-olds swore with solemn faces their allegiance to the Scout brotherhood during their Eagle Scout Court of Honor at Kozlik’s residence.
“The eagle represents an understanding of community and nation, and a deep respect for both,” read Jerry Maloney, committee chairman for the Troop. He said the award represents the completion of a long process after years of commitment to that effort.
“It is a demonstration of how people, working together, can truly help mold a young man with a solid sense of leadership, citizenship and responsibility,” he said.
But the road has been long in getting there, said Lupa and Kozlik – both of whom began as cub scouts more than five years ago.
Lupa’s chosen Eagle Scout project, completed in July of 2015, was the construction of a memorial for the late Dennis A. Daniels, a former Belchertown Department of Public Works worker who died from cancer in 2014. Although Lupa had never met Daniels, he rallied fellow scouts and adult volunteers to create a landscaped island with a memorial plague and a bench for the well-respected worker at the DPW grounds.
Lupa said he was “very proud” of his accomplishments, which include the four-month project and his experiences “learning how to deal with people” as a scout. “I’ve become more responsible and mature,” he said.
Kozlik’s chosen project was repairing significant wear-and-tear on the parking lot of Divine Mercy Parish in Three Rivers. He spent 27 hours across two days laying down cold patch pavement to complete the September 2015 project with the help of family and friends.
“It made me a better person,” he said of the project and his time as a scout. “I’m a leader and I can do a lot more things than before … I’m ready for wherever the road takes me, really,” he added.
Scoutmaster Scott Morley said both young men had come a long way and were ultimately “very, very successful.”
As the pair received their long-awaited Eagle Scout medallions, they were joined by parents Wally and Ewa Lupa and Ken and Cheryl Kozlik. Both mothers pinned the medallions on their sons uniforms, each on the shirt pocket over their hearts.
Lupa and Kozlik also received eagle patches, pins for each of their parents, pins for their selected mentors, blue neckerchiefs to replace their red ones, custom-engraved Buck knives from the troop’s chartering organization Belchertown Lions Club, citations from national organization Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and citations from the state House of Representatives and Senate.
Mark Nevin, advancement chairman for the troop, said that in addition to completing service projects, both new Eagle Scouts showed spirit, earned 10 more merit badges giving them a total of 21 and served at least six months in a leadership position.
“I care so deeply about scouting what it represents and means,” said state Sen. Eric Lesser during the ceremony. “Let’s be honest – we’re bombarded right now in our culture and society with some pretty devastating and disheartening messages.”
“In particular, young people are the target of a lot of that, he said. “It’s easy now as a young person or teenager coming up in our communities to feel like your voice doesn’t matter.”
Eagle Scouts, Lesser said, are the antidote to that.
“You are the example of what’s possible when you work to be the change,” he said.
Jim Desjardins, who helps the troop with events and organization, seconded that idea, saying to Lupa and Kozlik: “You are a marked man.”
“Build America on the solid foundation of clean living, honest work, unselfish citizenship and reverence for God,” he said.
A candle was lit for each 12 points of the Scout Law: A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
In closing, Lupa and Kozlik were told that the torch they now carry is shared with the troop.
“You become an example in your community,” said Maloney. I challenge you to enter this Eagle brotherhood, holding ever before you, without reservation, the ideals of honor and service.”
After sealing the ceremony, Lupa and Kozlik joined family and friends for a cookout and campfire to celebrate their accomplishments.
Morley said a third Eagle Scout, Richard Del Valle, has reached the rank but could not attend the Court of Honor because he is in the northern part of world traveling around Norway and the Arctic Circle as an intern on a research ship.
Sarah Crosby can be reached at scrosby@gazettenet.com.