Troop 3 Eagle Court of Honor Celebrates 5 New Eagle Scouts May 6 at First Baptist Church in Westwood

Troop 3 Eagle Court of Honor Celebrates 5 New Eagle Scouts

Left to right:

Mathew Berluti, John Rogers, Ryan Marten,

Robert Maughn and Cameron Clasby

On Saturday, May 6, Troop 3 will hold a Court of Honor to award Scouting’s highest rank, Eagle, to five young men from Westwood. John Rogers, Robert Maughn, Ryan Marten, Cameron Clasby and Mathew Berluti will each receive this award at a ceremony to be held at 5:00 p.m. at the First Baptist Church of Westwood, 808 High Street, Westwood, MA.

With this achievement, these young men are joining a very small percentage of Boy Scouts. Nationwide, only 6 percent of the total number of Boy Scouts, Varsity Scouts, and Venturers in the country earn the rank of Eagle Scout. The path to Eagle is a challenging one. To earn the Eagle Scout rank, a Boy Scout must fulfill numerous requirements in leadership, community service, citizenship, and outdoor skills. A Scout must earn a minimum of 21 merit badges, including 13 Eagle-required badges, to advance to the rank of Eagle.

Using Scouting skills in the real world is exemplified in the community service project each Scout must perform to become an Eagle. Each of the three Scouts identified an organization that needed assistance and developed a plan to lead others in executing a service project to benefit that organization.

John Rogers

John began his scouting career with Troop 5 West Roxbury and had the honor of participating in the laying of the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.

When John joined Troop 3 Westwood he continued to embrace all that scouting has to offer. He learned to love the outdoors as he hiked, camped, and backpacked with his fellow Scouts. John learned many survival skills on these trips. The Mount Greylock trip is one of his favorites were the Scouts had a long hike to the summit to be rewarded with breathtaking views. John attended summer camp annually where he earned merit badges and made friends from other troops. John has earned his Bronze Palm.

John has held different leadership positions in Troop 3 including Senior Patrol Leader. He was inducted into the Order of the Arrow and held the position of Arrow Corp Chairman.

For John’s Eagle project he and a team of volunteers worked to refurbish an old destroyed picnic site at Lowell woods. All the old debris was removed and the site was marked. Woodchips, donated by the town of Westwood, were laid out and two new picnic tables were assembled, stained, and added to the site. Signs were erected on the trail to show the location of the site.

John is a junior at Westwood High School who enjoys hockey, fishing, hunting, and motorcycles.

John would like to thank the adult leaders of Troop 3 with special thanks to Mr. Doherty for all of his assistance; the Scouts and friends who helped him complete his project, the Town of Westwood DPW for their contributions, and the Westwood Conservation Commission.

Robert Maughn

Robert Maughn started his Scouting career as a Tiger Cub in Pack 2 Westwood. He loved hiking, camping, and pineapple upside down cake from a Dutch oven. Bob earned the Arrow of Light, and joined Troop 3 in 6th grade.

The transition to Boy Scouts from Cub Scouts was a big, but rewarding one. The hiking and camping got more serious, and new activities like whitewater rafting became some of his favorite activities. Bob attended many of the White Mountains hikes and spent the Klondike Derby in a snow shelter with other Scouts. His best memory was attending the Bahamas Sea Base, and sleeping under the stars on the open ocean.

Bob was Patrol Leader of the Spartan Patrol for a few years, was elected ASPL, and then transitioned to Senior Patrol Leader.

Bob’s Eagle project was to build a set of erosion preventing steps at Membership Beach at Hale Reservation. He was donated railroad ties from CSX railroad, and set out with his team of Scouts to haul the rails to the site. Once there, the unit dug out the hill, he and his team started installing the steps. When one massive boulder stopped progress, Sunbelt Rentals donated a jackhammer to the project, and the boulder was no more. After a few days’ work, the steps were finally filled in with gravel donated by Mr. Collala, and the project was a success. The steps now prevent erosion from rainfall, and are used often by people as a safer way to climb the short, steep hill.

Bob will attend Plymouth State in NH next fall, and plans to major in education, with minor in environmental sciences. He is a senior who played his last season with Westwood Football, and runs track for Westwood Track and Field.

Ryan Marten

Ryan started scouting in first grade as a Tiger Cub with Pack 2, Westwood. As a Cub Scout, he most enjoyed Pinewood Derby races and Hale Reservation overnight camping trips.

Ryan earned his Arrow of Light and crossed over into Troop 3 Westwood in 2010. Ryan has had the privilege of serving Troop 3 in the leadership positions of Bugler, Assistant Patrol Leader, PatrolLeader and Troop Guide. His favorite trips in Boy Scouts were the Lovett’s Island trip, the dog sledding trip and the ski trips. Ryan has earned 37 merit badges and is a member of the Order of the Arrow (the BSA honor society).

For Ryan’s Eagle Scout project, he renovated a portion of the Page and Sadie Trail at Hale Reservation. This entailed leading a group of volunteers to clear and blaze a brand new section of trail and to construct a wooden walkway that traverses a swampy area in the trail. The Page and Sadie Trail is the most popular trail at Hale and have been used by racers, triathletes and campers for many years.

Ryan continues to serve Scouting and his community by improving STEM education for Westwood K-12 students. With 8 years of experience in FIRST Robotics, he mentored a rookie team consisting of 4 Webelos and taught them the values of team work and perseverance that he learned in Scouting.

Ryan is a graduating senior at Westwood High School and enjoys running track, building robots and enjoying time with friends.

Ryan thanks Home Depot, Dedham Savings and all the volunteers who worked on his Eagle Scout project at Hale. He is especially grateful to the scout leaders who gave their time and attention to mentor him and help him grow up in scouting. Ryan will study Computer Science at University of Toronto next year.

Cameron Clasby

Cameron Clasby started his scouting experience at age 7 and joined Cub Scout Pack 1 Westwood as a Tiger cub. He enjoyed camping and small hikes around Blue Hills, earning Webelos pins and participating in a variety of themed trips. As a cub scout he earned the World Conservation Award and as a Webelos he earned the Arrow of Light. When he crossed over to Boy Scouts he joined Troop 3 Westwood. Cameron has enjoyed several leadership roles over the years in boy scouting, such as being a Patrol Leader and Assistant Patrol Leader.

As a member of Troop 3 Westwood, Cameron has had the opportunity to go on a variety of trips. He has gone on numerous biking trips, went dog sledding and summited Mount Washington. Some of his more memorable experiences were visiting Gettysburg National Park in Pennsylvania, hiking and kayaking in Acadia National Park in Maine, and going to the High Adventure Sea Base in the Bahamas, where he had the opportunity to snorkel in the Caribbean and experience a different culture, including attending Easter Sunday Mass at a church on a small Bahamian island. Cameron also went to summer camp for 5 consecutive years, where he earned numerous merit badges.

Cameron enjoys the outdoors and protecting wildlife. For Cameron’s Eagle Scout Project, he developed and executed a community awareness campaign about storm drain water systems and their impact on the water quality of Westwood’s ponds, streams and other tributaries. His awareness campaign included guidance on not using storm drains to discard household waste and other contaminants that contribute to water pollution and negatively impact fish and other wildlife. In addition, Cameron led a group of other scouts, family and friends in a project to label over 400 storm drains with either painted on markings or more permanent markers that warn pedestrians about dumping pollutants in the drains. Cameron purchased the permanent markers with funds raised at a car wash he organized.

Cameron is a junior at Blue Hills Technical School in Canton. He is a part of the Health Assisting program where he recently successfully completed the Certified Nursing Assistant Exam and is continuing his training at Milton Hospital. He intends to pursue a career in Nursing. He is also a member of the Blue Hill Booster Club. Cameron would also like to thank his family for their support that made his Eagle Project possible, as well as all those, especially Troop 3 Scoutmasters and Assistant Scout Leaders, who have helped him in scouts throughout the years.

Mathew Berluti

Mathew Berluti started his Scouting career going into 6th grade. Before joining Boy Scouts Mathew had enjoyed hiking, camping, fishing and building fires but he could not find the time to fully enjoy the outdoors.

Once he joined Troop 3 Westwood, Mathew became very active in the Troop. Some of his best trips included riding rapids in Charlemont Massachusetts, hiking Mount Greylock in the Berkshires, hiking Mount Washington in New Hampshire, canoeing the Charles River in Boston, backpacking through Hale, and hiking a section of the Long Trail in Vermont. Mathew will always have great memories from his experience at TL Storer Boy Scout camp. He also attended Gettysburg National Park in Pennsylvania and Sea Base in Bahamas. Two unforgettable experiences. Mathew also helped on a large scale service project for a handicapped boy named Derek which made a tremendously positive impact on his life.

Mathew's Eagle Scout project involved installing a new fence around the playground at the Saint Ambrose women's shelter in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He removed the old fence and poles. Through a generous donation from a local business, Mathew purchased supplies from Home Depot. Mathew along with the help of friends and family built a brand new fence. The experience was challenging and seemed impossible at times but Mathew got the project done. The new fence was essential to the shelter as it allows the kids to once again use the playground without worry of danger. Mathew is very grateful for the help he received from his friends on the project.

He would like to thank the adult leaders in Troop 3 as well as his family for the support they have given him along the way. Scouts has been an incredible experience.