Four Troop 76 Scouts serve their communities to earn Eagle wings during pandemic

OLD TOWN, Maine — Despite the ongoing global pandemic, four members of Boy Scout Troop 76 completed community service projects this year to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout, benefiting veterans, their local schools and a community trail system.

Eagle candidates must complete a project that benefits a group other than their own organization to be considered as an Eagle Scout, according to the Boy Scouts of America. Projects, often community-service based, follow a long-standing principle of the BSA — “to help other people at all times.”

A secondary purpose of the project is for candidates to demonstrate leadership. 

Troop members receiving their Eagle Scout wings were Devon Lagasse, 16; Jason DeSisto, 17; Ryan Kelley, 16, and Walker Phillips, 16. 

16-year-old Devon Lagasse stands beside his completed Eagle Scout project. (Courtesy of Devon Lagasse)

For his project, Lagasse wanted to do something that would benefit his hometown of Alton. 

After getting suggestions from community leaders about what the community needed, Lagasse decided to upgrade the veterans memorial,which he said hadn’t been touched in 20 years. 

“It just felt more home to me,” Lagasse said. He started researching what he’d need to complete his project and held a bottle drive to raise money for the materials over the summer. 

He worked with the TriState Flag Company to secure a 15-foot fiberglass pole to replace the previous broken flagpole. 

In November, Lagasse was finally ready to get the job done. His fellow Scouts from Troop 76 joined in to help with the manual work of replacing the fencing around the memorial. Two members of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars also stopped by to help with the flag raising ceremony, along with the Alton Fire Department. 

“We had a lot of people show up and I was so excited with the amount of people we had,” Lagasse said. He estimated that 40 people showed up to see the project through — while wearing masks and social distancing. 

“I was more than pleased. It was way better than I could’ve imagined,” he said. “’’m proud of myself and everybody who took their time and dedication to help me.”

17-year-old Jason DeSisto stands in one of the storage sheds he made for Asa Adams Elementary School as part of his Eagle Scout project. (Courtesy of Jason DeSisto)

17-year-old Jason DeSisto, who grew up in Orono, decided to help kids in his community by building two storage sheds for the elementary school’s physical education program. 

When DeSisto was a student at Asa Adams Elementary School, there weren’t any storage sheds to keep the school’s equipment, so students and teachers often had to carry the gear from the school to the fields, taking away play time. 

“It was just a headache for the PE teacher and all the kids to get the equipment out there,” DeSisto said. 

This summer, DeSisto organized a drop-off bottle drive to raise funds for the materials he would need. Mahan’s Redemption Center rounded up DeSisto’s collection from $425 to $500, donating $75 to the cause. The Asa Adams parent-teacher organization covered the cost of the shed siding, which was $600. 

With help from his dad, DeSisto started building the pair of sheds in August. Between getting the right materials and making sure to get the right cuts of wood, it was a time-consuming process, he said.  

By October, the sheds were ready. DeSisto’s former boss, John Parker of Black Bear Lawn Care, offered to help transport the sheds from DeSisto’s house to Asa Adams. One early morning before school, Parker brought a forklift and a big trailer — along with two employees — to help move the sheds. 

Normally, an Eagle Scout project takes a lot of communication and time. But this year, the pandemic made the process even more stressful, DeSisto said. In the end, he said he felt accomplished — and relieved. 

“I really want to say thanks to my troop for supporting me and everyone who donated … It just meant a lot,” he said. 

Ryan Kelley, 16, used his Eagle Scout project to restore internet-capable devices for local students doing remote learning this year. He and three of his fellow Scouts earned their Eagle Scout ranks in 2020. (Nina Mahaleris | The Penobscot Times)

Ryan Kelley, 16, also chose a project to help his school. He decided to collect and refurbish old computers and electronics for students in the RSU 34 school district who are doing remote learning during the pandemic. 

Kelley has been interested in building computers since he was little, watching his dad run his own computer technology business.  

The scout initially wanted to host a local electronic waste convention for his project, where people could drop off used technology to be recycled, and cut down on global e-waste pollution. 

But when Jon Doty, Ed.D, the district’s director of curriculum, instruction and assessment, asked the troop if any Scouts wanted to collaborate on a service project to provide devices for students, Kelley changed course. 

In early September, Kelley held a device drive where people could drop off used computers, laptops and other devices to be refurbished and given to students in need. 

By November, Doty estimated that Kelley’s project brought around 115 computers to the district’s students. 

“Ryan far exceeded his goal of 100 computers for kids, in one of the most impactful Eagle Scout projects I’ve seen,” Doty said. 

“They’ve been huge assets for our learners, and will serve the students and their families well even after the pandemic! Combined with the machines our IT department and [staff] rehabbed this summer, we’ve been able to keep our kids connected.”

When Hogan Marquis, a teacher at Leonard Middle School, asked troop leaders if a Scout would be interested in helping to design a trailhead kiosk for their outdoor learning trails, Walker Phillips jumped in. 

The 16-year-old from Old Town said he’s always liked hiking and being in the woods and wanted to help his former school. With input from Marquis and the Scouts, he picked a design for the trailheads and got to work. 

Together, he and his dad built one mobile and one stationary kiosk for the entrances to the school’s outdoor learning spaces. Each kiosk took about 10 hours to build. Phillips said some fellow Scouts came to his house to help construction, too, Phillips said. 

“We all worked on it together,” he said. 

Marquis had already gathered the materials for the project so the scouts didn’t need to worry about fundraising to cover project costs. 

The troop joined him to install both the trailhead kiosks at the school on Saturday, Dec. 12. “It felt great,” Phillips said. “It was really good to help the middle school and a big sigh of relief to get that done.”

He said it was also nice to see the troop come together and help one another. 

In addition to the four Scouts who have finished their projects this year, two other troop members have already started mapping out their projects.

Max Chapman plans to build a fence and gate for the community garden at one of the Old Town schools next year. Demytrius Smith is also planning on doing some work on the veterans memorial in LaGrange. 

“The whole idea of having a lot of Eagle projects being in the works [or] finishing up is a great testimony to the perseverance of these Scouts during what has been a very interesting time, to say the least,” Troop 76 Scoutmaster Chris Kelley said.