Two marble benches in front of the Easton Senior Center's Morehouse Road property flank both sides of a large stone adorned by an assortment of yellow, purple and white flowers.
The inscription on a plaque embedded in the stone reads:
2013 Eagle Scout Project
Alexander Goncalves
With Gratitude to Easton Troop 66 and The Easton Senior Center
Boy Scout Alexander Goncalves, 14, a Helen Keller Middle School eighth-grader, led a group of fellow scouts in completing the project just last Sunday, according to Senior Center Dir. Val Buckley.
It was the second Eagle project completed by a Boy Scout from Troop 66 on the property. Last September, Christoph Dow, 17, led the sprucing up of the grounds at back of the property (a story on his project will appear Friday).
"They're both remarkable young men," Buckley said Tuesday.
Buckley herself has a grandson, Connor Bates, who will be receiving his own Eagle as a member of Troop 270 in Durham, Mass.
Eagle is the highest ranking a Boy Scout can obtain. Only around 7 percent of all Boy Scouts nationwide have earned the honor, according to the Boy Scouts of America's website.
A scout has to earn 21 merit badges for categories such as First Aid; Cycling, Hiking, or Swimming; Environmental Science; citizenship and family life.
The ranks are Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, Life and Eagle.
A scout has to show leadership by planning, organizing and overseeing the carrying out of a project to its completion. Then a presentation is made to the Eagle Board of Review, which has to approve it as worthy of an Eagle Project. Once a scout completes those steps, he is awarded his Eagle in a special ceremony with recognition from high ranking politicians and military officers.
Goncalves will soon be presenting his project to the Yankee Council's Eagle Board of Review.
Proud Parents
Alexander Goncalves' parents, Mario and Isabel are proud of their son's accomplishment.
"He's a great kid," Isabel said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "He's always been a hard worker and a high achiever since he was a little kid."
Isabel said Alexander first became involved in scouting at age 6.
"He's 14 now, which is actually quite young for an Eagle," Isabel said.
According to the Boy Scouts of America, the average age of a Boy Scout earning his Eagle rank is 17-years-old.
Mario Goncalves owns a masonary company, which donated the material for his son's project, and the Easton Senior Center donated the landscaping, Isabel said.
"He's worked really hard," she said Alexander. "He progressed so quickly through the ranks, earning his merit badges and good grades in school."
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