Three New Montclair Eagle Scouts

Boy Scout Troop 12 of Montclair welcomed three new Eagle Scouts to its ranks at a Court of Honor held at St. James Episcopal Church.

High school seniors Alexander Hadley, Stephen Shaheen and Jake Thomas reached the pinnacle of Scouting in February. To attain the high rank, the boys had to earn 21 merit badges, advance through several ranks in their troops and complete a community service leadership project — all of which had to be done before they turned 18 years old.  

Hadley, who attends Montclair High School, planted trees in Edgemont Park for his leadership project. The plantings will help the ecosystem as well as enhance the beauty of the park. The project consisted of fundraising to purchase the trees, landscaping and planting. Alex and his volunteers spend about 180 hours on the project. 

Shaheen, also a Montcliar High School student, cleared the red trail at Mills Reservation for his leadership project. The trail was covered by fallen tree trunks and limbs that made walking on it nearly impossible. It was also completely overgrown with an invasive vine and a portion of the trail had started to collapse into a pit. The project took Shaheen and his volunteers about 100 hours. 

Thomas is a senior at The Forman School. He restored a section of Montclair’s historic Anderson Park as his leadership project, which included replacing soil and plantings to bring the area back to the original design of the Olmsted brothers. The project took about 157 hours to complete.