Five Lansing scouts reach Eagle rank

The Lansing Scouting America Troop 48 recently accomplished a rare feat: five of its members were awarded scouting’s highest rank this year. 

Troop 48 has 40 scouts in total, said Mac Green, who leads the group. The distinction of Eagle Scout, he noted, is a process that denotes consistency and commitment.

“It takes a minimum of two years, but it takes most people four or five years to do it,” Green said. “They need to go through certain compulsory merit badges. So they will be cooking and camping and learning about personal management, family life — that sort of thing. Just overall good citizenship.”

To achieve the rank, scouts under the age of 18 have to receive three or four citizenship merit badges. 

“I think there are 14 compulsory [merit badges], and you need 21 in total,” Green noted. “But most of the scouts will get 30, sometimes 50, merit badges before they get through to Eagle. So, it’s quite a lot.”

Harvey Kay, Stephen Geise, Dominick Ronsvalle, Dylan Rooney-Monger, Sean Quinn, the five scouts who were named Eagle Scouts are part of a somewhat golden generation.

“It’s very rare to get five at once,” Green said. “We are essentially helping them get to that point.”

For parents, the process of having their children enroll in a troop and reach a high level of distinction is a source of pride.

“It’s a big workload for them and for us,” said Maureen Ronsvalle, whose son, Dominick, was designated an Eagle Scout Feb. 15 at a luncheon in Binghamton. 

Ronsvalle said that Dominick was excited to receive the decoration.

“Not only does it look good on his resume with everything, but he’s also just really enjoyed scouting,” Ronsvalle said. “The Lansing troop is very active. They’ve done a lot of things. He’s gone on a lot of trips and he has been able to be a leader of the troop. He’s also grown his management skills and leadership skills.

Dominick has been in scouting since he was in first grade, Ronsvalle said. He is now a jazz studies major at Ithaca College. 

“[Dominick] definitely matured in the Boy Scout troop, just with the activities that they did,” Ronsvalle said. “Once a month they go camping, and the kids have to go on their own patrols, cook their own food, buy their own groceries, and maintain a budget. So, they’ve just learned so many life skills. Just being in this environment and having the leadership that’s encouraged them has just really helped him mature. He lost his father at a young age, so having the male influence also was a big part of him growing up.”

Those in consideration for an Eagle badge submit an Eagle project, which can also be given a separate decoration. One project of the Lansing troop received the Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams Service Project of the Year Award at the Binghamton ceremony on Feb. 15.

The awarded project, created by Stephen Geise, consisted of reading sensory boards for students at R.C. Buckley Elementary School in Lansing. These boards helped children with sensory disabilities.

“What happens is, the town kids can come up with their own ideas. Or the town, like the town of Lansing, or the school, or somebody might say, ‘Hey, look, we want this done as an Eagle project,’” Ronsvalle said. “How Stephen’s project came about was that he knew somebody and they needed this in the school.”

Green said that the project is a management project, meaning that the scouts have to be in control of their resources. 

“They’ve got to manage all of the time, the money, the skills, the planning, permission —  everything that’s needed for whatever their project is,” Green said. 

For Green, leading the troop is worth every second of volunteered time.

“We wouldn’t do it otherwise,” Green concluded. “We just give our hours and our money for this. Having Eagle Scouts in our troop is huge.”

Lansing at Large appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com. Contact Eddie Velazquez at edvel37@gmail.com or on X (formerly Twitter): @ezvelazquez.

In brief:

The Lansing Community Library Book Club for Adults will meet March 18 to discuss its latest selection: “In Pieces” by Sally Field. The meetup will run from 7 to 8p.m.

“We are delighted to invite you to the March meeting of the LCL Book Club for Adults,” reads a post on the library’s website. “The LCL Book Club offers a warm and inclusive space for sharing thoughts and insights. We look forward to an inspiring and enriching discussion and hope you can join us!”

For more information, contact Christina Forties at christinaf@lansinglibrary.org.

“In Pieces” is a memoir by Field, an award-winning actress. The book briefly touches on Field’s acting roles, but it’s much more about the relationships that shaped her as a woman, an actor and a mother.