Boy Scouts welcome six new Eagles to the community

Posted on November 7, 2018 By Editor Junior Residents

Crystian DeMonbreun, Pressley Hendrix, Corbin Lowe, Max Klavon, John Monteleone, Jonathan Randall

Six young men from four area high schools received the coveted Eagle Scout medal Oct. 13 at St. John’s Presbyterian Church. Each Troop 2 Boy Scout who had completed the requirements to attain the highest rank available in the Scouting program now counts himself as one among 4 percent in Scouts to achieve the rank.

During the ceremony, each Scout spoke about what Scouting meant to him, talked about his project, recognized a mentor, and challenged another boy from Troop 2 to go for the Eagle rank. Five of the six Scouts chose Arturo Hernandez, while one challenged his younger brother.

For his Eagle project, Crystian DeMonbreun, a student at St. John’s Country Day School, chose to spruce up sections of the Westside Soccer Club at Ringhaver Park, repainting the club’s equipment shed and painting curbs in the pickup/drop-off zone. Corbin Lowe, who attends Bishop Snyder High School, also did his project for the soccer club, renovating a pavilion and building a picnic table. Both young men said they enjoyed spending many hours playing soccer at Ringhaver Park, so it was a natural choice for their projects.

John Monteleone and Pressley Hendrix both attend Robert E. Lee High School. Monteleone’s project was a fundraiser for St. John’s Presbyterian Church. First learning how to build and keep beehives, then harvesting about 15 gallons of honey, Monteleone raised $500 for the church. Hendrix honored a World War II Purple Heart recipient by building a ramp for 96-year-old John Stone, an Avondale resident and neighbor of Troop 2 Scoutmaster Alan Wilson.

Max Klavon, whose father Brent was the keynote speaker at the ceremony, spent his time helping another local church, First Baptist of Ortega, where he did some interior painting and repaired the exterior pole sign along Roosevelt Boulevard. Klavon attends Stanton College Preparatory High School.

Jonathan “Jack” Randall graduated from Bishop Snyder last year and is a student at the University of Florida. He chose to erect an enclosed dog run at St. Francis Animal Hospital.

“They take in and care for a lot of dogs. Exercise has been shown to help with their healing, but the hospital lacked a dedicated fenced-in enclosure for the dogs,” said Randall, who challenged his brother, Eddie, to work for his own Eagle medal.

Bestowing the Eagle Award on six Scouts at one ceremony wasn’t the first time for Troop 2 Scoutmaster Wilson. “We’ve had six Scouts for an Eagle Ceremony a couple of times before while I’ve been Scoutmaster, but I don’t know the largest prior to my tenure,” said Wilson, who has led the troop since 2005.

Troop 2 began in 1911, the year after scouting was founded in 1910, and was originally at St Andrews Church, which is now the Jacksonville Historical Society, next to the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, Wilson said. After World War II, the troop moved to St John’ s Presbyterian Church in 1947.