From Maplewood Boy Scouts Troop 5:
MAPLEWOOD, N.J. — Six Scouts from Maplewood’s Troop 5 have earned the prestigious Eagle Scout Award, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America, symbolizing exceptional character, leadership, and service to their community.
The Scouts were honored during an Eagle Scout Court of Honor ceremony held on Saturday, Nov. 30, at Maplewood Middle School, surrounded by family, friends, and community leaders.
To achieve the Eagle Award, each scout must advance through the BSA [Boy Scouts of America] ranks of Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star and Life, earn a minimum of 21 merit badges in areas like outdoor skills, citizenship and life skills, and plan and lead a project that benefits their local community.
Scouts raise funds for their project and organize volunteers from the troop and broader community to complete the project. Scouts often choose organizations and projects that are meaningful to them personally.
Six scouts from Maplewood’s Troop 5 earned the prestigious Eagle Scout Award, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America, during an Eagle Scout Court of Honor ceremony at Maplewood Middle School on Nov. 30, 2024. Pictured left to right, are Grant Huebner, Jack Barnett, Henry Donat, Max Coey, Timothy Van de North and Lukas Wurster. Photo courtesy of Aaron Berger Photography.
The scouts who received the Eagle Award and their projects are as follows:
Jack Barnett of South Orange, a sophomore at the Air Force Academy, worked with the South Orange Rescue Squad in 2023 to provide custom-built indoor and outdoor wooden furniture for their Sloan Street Headquarters.
Max Coey of Maplewood, a senior at Columbia High School, worked with the South Orange Department of Public Works in 2022 to construct baseball dugouts for historic Cameron Field.
Henry Donat of Maplewood, a sophomore at Marist College, worked with Wyoming Presbyterian Church in 2023 to repair and repaint the exterior of a historic cottage used for meetings and counseling, along with other repairs.
Grant Huebner of South Orange, a sophomore at Rutgers University, rehabilitated seven public bulletin boards in Maplewood parks in 2022, including a complete replacement at Milo S. Borden Park.
Timothy Van de North of Maplewood, a senior at Columbia High School, renovated garden benches and installed bluebird nesting boxes at the Durand-Hedden House in 2024.
Lukas Wurster of Maplewood, a freshman at Lehigh University, built and installed six new trail map posts in the South Mountain Reservation in 2023.
Each scout was presented with the Eagle Award medal, a wooden keepsake box to store their Boy Scout merit badges and BSA memorabilia from the Maplewood Rotary Club, a letter of commemoration from Gov. Phil Murphy, and proclamations from Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11), Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, Jr. and both Maplewood Mayor Nancy Adams and South Orange Mayor Sheena Collum.
“You are among a select few who have achieved this award,” Murphy wrote, commending the scouts for demonstrating “exemplary discipline, talent, and ingenuity. The lessons you have learned from scouting will serve you well throughout your life.”
The Maplewood proclamation congratulated the scouts “for their unwavering dedication, determination and exemplary service to others.”
“We look forward to the continued success, leadership and service that will undoubtedly follow this monumental achievement,” it said.
Addressing the crowd from the podium, each scout thanked their family, friends and troop leaders while sharing stories from their years in Scouts.
Many spoke of the two weeks each summer that Troop 5 spends at the Massawepie Scout Camp in the Adirondacks, including Donat, who described how he and others were drenched during a sudden rainfall while they were hiking up Big Slide Mountain, one of the region’s high peaks.
That experience “taught a younger version of me some important lessons,” Donat said, listing some things he learned, such as, “Life’s not fair,” “Things can always get worse,” and “You can find joy in any situation.”
“I try to remember that when I need to keep some perspective in my life,” he said, explaining that despite being freezing and soaked through and through, he made a conscious decision to enjoy what he could from that day.
“Life is exactly what you make of it,” he said.
Barnett spoke about how Boy Scouts not only taught him the importance of community, volunteer service, and spending time outdoors, but it offered him the “invaluable opportunity to practice leadership.”
Scouting is like a “leadership playground,” he said, describing how he worked his way up from den chief and patrol leader to senior patrol leader in his last year.
Barnett advised younger scouts in the audience to apply for everything, go to summer camp and take advantage of every opportunity. “The biggest thing you might regret is not the things you do or the mistakes you make … the biggest thing you might regret are the things you didn’t do.”
Wurster said now is the time for him and his fellow Eagle Scouts to focus on their goals. He cited the poem, “The Dash,” by Linda Ellis, which describes the dash on a tombstone between a person’s birth date and the day of their passing.
“For the purpose of this celebration, our birth date is today, the day we become Eagle Scouts,” Wurster said. “It is now time for us to live our dash.”
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About Troop 5 Maplewood
Troop 5 Maplewood has been a cornerstone of the community since 1920, fostering the core values of Scouting: trustworthiness, loyalty, kindness, and responsibility. Sponsored by the Maplewood Rotary Club, this youth-led troop provides boys ages 11–17 with opportunities to grow as leaders and citizens through outdoor adventure, community service, and personal development. Highlights of the troop’s dynamic program include two weeks each summer at Massawepie Scout Camp, monthly outings, and high-adventure trips to remarkable destinations such as the U.S. Virgin Islands and Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. By embracing these experiences, Scouts of Troop 5 develop character, resilience, and a lifelong commitment to making a positive impact.
Troop meetings are held Thursdays, 7–9 p.m., during the school year at Seth Boyden Elementary School. For more information, email info@troop5.us or visit www.troop5.us. Follow current activities on Facebook (facebook.com/troop5.us) and Instagram (@troop5maplewood).
