Five Scouts receive EAGLE SCOUT Award at recent Court of Honor

Five scouts from Pleasanton’s Troop 941 received the Eagle Award at a Court of Honor held on July 20, 2022. They are: Lucas Crane, Ryan Cruz, Aaron McMillin, Taz Oka, Owen Mello.

The Scoutmaster of the troop is Jim McMillin. Troop 941 is sponsored by the Pleasanton VFW Post 6298. All of the new Eagle Sdouts have been involved with the troop throughout their Scouting years and have held numerous Leadership roles during that time.

Owen Mello’s parents are Kevin and Jennifer Mello of Pleasanton.

Owen joined scouting at 7 years old with Pack 916 in Pleasanton. He moved on to Troop 941 and held leadership positions as a Troop Instructor, Patrol Leader, and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader. For his Eagle Project, Owen built a large custom birdhouse for the Brookdale Alzheimer’s Care Facility in Danville in honor of his grandfather, Rick Graves, who was a former resident of the facility. Owen will be attending Marquette University in the fall studying Economics.

Ryan Cruz is the son of Eric and Robin Cruz of Pleasanton.

He began his scouting adventures as a tiger cub with Pack 901 in 2010. In 2015 he earned his Arrow Of Light award and bridged over to Troop 941. For his Eagle Project, Ryan planned and organized 3 packing events for Kids Against Hunger Bay Area. He gathered 150 enthusiastic volunteers to pack over 34,000 meals to send to hungry children and families in the Bay Area and Haiti. His project also included a deep cleaning event for the Kids Against Hunger warehouse. Ryan is looking forward to attending Boise State University where he plans to study business and marketing. He's so grateful to all the leaders and those who supported him throughout his scouting experience.

Taz Oka’s parents are Larry and Laura Oka of Sunol.

He started his scouting journey joining Cub Scout Pack 938 as a Tiger cub . Taz joined Troop 941 and found he enjoyed the camping and backpacking and developed a love of the great outdoors. Always one to keep busy, Taz, managed to balance school and music commitments, sports, community involvement and a part time job. For his Eagle Project, Taz planned and oversaw the construction of a pathway and circular brick area linking the two walkways within the Sunol community park. He will be attending Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo studying Mechanical Engineering.

Lucas Crane is the son of Mike and Holly Crane of Pleasanton.

Lucas started his Scouting journey as a Tiger Cub in London England. His first camp was a Jamboree in France on Normandy Beach. Lucas earned his Arrow of Light with Pack 916, then joined Troop 941 and held several Leadership positions in the Patrol and Troop. He was also registered with Troop 945 and active in their activities. Lucas’ Eagle Project involved building custom shelving for Foothill High School Band which allows them to efficiently store brass mutes. This led Lucas to become interested in construction. This fall he will be attending Purdue University studying Construction Management Technology.

Aaron McMillin’s parents are Jim and Nancy McMillin of Livermore.

He began his Scouting journey as a Tiger Cub in Pack 241, Bluffton, SC, Coastal Carolina Council. After moving to Pleasanton, he finished out his Cub adventures with Pack 901, earning his Arrow of Light. An avid camper, Aaron has done high adventure treks in Colorado and at Northern Tier and has over 150 camping nights with Troop 941. He attended NYLT in 2018 and was elected as the 2020 OA Vice Chairman of Communications for Seunen Village, Achewon Nimat Lodge. His leadership positions included Senior Patrol Leader, Troop Guide and Chaplain's Aide. His Eagle project was to create an amphitheater experience for Blue Oaks Church youth groups by building 20 benches for an offsite campfire ring. He is a Senior at Livermore High and hopes to pursue an engineering or physics degree after graduation.

To earn the rank of Eagle Scout, a Scout must be active in their troop, provide leadership, earn 21 merit badges including the areas of citizenship, camping, communications, cooking and lifesaving or emergency preparedness as well as demonstrate that they live by the principles of the Scout Oath and the Scout Law. They must also plan, develop and give leadership to others in a service project benefiting a religious institution, school or community group.

Anyone interested in joining any level of Scouting can contact the Twin Valley District Executive, Andrew Evans at Andrew.Evans@Scouting.org.