Former Eagle Scout Shares his Passion, Skills, Secrets and Wallet

When Mark Garrahan moved to Hastings last August, he was surprised to learn that no Boy Scout troop called the town its home. As a former Eagle Scout, a title less than one percent of all Boy Scout members ever achieve, Garrahan decided to do something about it.

Garrahan first became involved with the Boy Scouts of America in 1978, joining troop 165 in Theills, NY, shortly after his parents moved to Rockland County. After his parents divorced, Garrahan's mother decided the Boy Scouts could help fill an important void in her son's life.

"My mother wanted to make sure we did all the manly stuff like camping and fishing," Garrahan said. "As you can guess by my involvement it had a profound influence on me."

Garrahan, who is a management consultant and currently working on a project for the United Nations, has nothing but fond memories of his Eagle Scout days.

"We had a great group back then," he said. "We won a lot of awards and our flag was always filled with all kinds of patches."

Unfortunately, Garrahan and his former troop members did a poor job keeping in touch, reuniting rarely while always telling themselves they needed to see each other more often. When Garrahan heard the troop was in danger of breaking apart, his efforts to save it were too little, too late.  

"We'd rarely get back together, except of course when someone passed away," Garrahan said. 

It was then that Garrahan attended an event held by an Eagle Scout alumni association, bringing together all the Eagle Scouts in the area, some as young as 18, others as old as 81. It was there that Garrahan heard Hastings, once a village with three Boy Scout troops, currently had none.

Not long after, when a troop of eight Boy Scouts was formed in Hastings, Garrahan--who is single and has no children--considered getting involved, eager to give back to the organization that impacted him so strongly. He was also aware, however, of the potential negative reactions that could arise from parents and community members when they learned he wanted to be a leader but had no children of his own.

In the end, encouraged by Assistant Scoutmaster Justin Steinhard, who is married but also has no children, Garrahan decided to contribute his time and money to the Hastings troop.

The Boy Scouts of America make it a priority to protect all of their members and leaders, performing in depth background checks on adults involved and enforcing a "No one-on-one" policy, a factor Garrahan undoubtedly considered when making his decision.

"I've had no negative reaction at all so far," he said. "All the parents and leaders I've met are happy to have an experienced adult around."

Once on board, Garrahan immediately focused on his goal of bolstering the Hastings troop, purchasing fishing gear and inflatable mattresses for the eight boys. He also proposed a very specific challenge for them, with the promise of a generous reward: Get four of your friends to come out and join, and I'll donate $1,000 to the troop. Double the troop's numbers, and I'll donate $2,000.

"I wanted to give them some kind of carrot at the end of the stick," Garrahan said. "If you've got the cool equipment, that's what gets guys out there; that's what makes it fun. Hopefully we can get the troop up to 18 or 20 guys. That way they can have two patrols and do all take part in competitions."

Garrahan does not intend to be recognized solely as a patron, though, and is intent on making room in his already hectic schedule to pass on some old secrets and accompany the troop on some outdoor excursions. He has already planned to lead the troop on a hiking and fishing outing to a favorite spot of his in the near future, although he refused to specify the location.

"I can't give up the name of my fishing spot," he said. "Let's just say a backwoods lake in Harriman State Park. Sharing with the scouts is as much as I can give up my secret hole."