Troop 1 Seekonk Eagle Court of Honor

On October 22, 2017 Troop 1 Seekonk held an Eagle Court of Honor at the Seekonk Senior Center on Arcade Avenue. Three Scouts, Robert Gerardi, Richard Curzake and Jacob Merola who obtained the rank of Eagle were recognized for their achievement.

Robert J. Gerardi III
Robert’s Eagle Project was the construction and installation of bat boxes on Seekonk’s athletic fields at Hurley Middle School and Cole Street. The bat boxes were built to help reduce mosquitos in those areas where chemicals can not be sprayed.
Each box consists of 4 chambers and is 18” wide by 33” long and is mounted 16’ high. Robert precut and drilled holes in 80 pieces of wood. He and his volunteers then stained, constructed and installed the boxes. 120+ hours were needed to complete this project.
Robert has currently earned 40 Merit Badges and Order of the Arrow: Brotherhood. He has also earned his Bronze and Gold Eagle Palms. Rob attended NYLT and earned his gold patch. He is looking forward to attending Sea Base in April, 2018.
Robert is a Junior at Seekonk High school. He is a member of the Cross-Country team, the Math Team, Outdoor Track team and will be a Swim team captain this winter season

Richard H. Curzake
Richard’s Eagle Project was to clear vegetation for the Town of Seekonk Conservation Commission at the Lagerquist property on Bittersweet Drive in the north end of Seekonk. This was a cut and drop project, clearing approximately 14,520 square feet of 74 acres. Richard lead a group of his fellow scouts and peers to remove brush for future use of the property.
During his years in Troop 1 Seekonk, Richard has earned 35 Merit Badges and has attended Yawgoog every year and Merit Badge College 5 years. He enjoyed all the camping trips, canoeing trips, white water rafting and especially OKPIK in Raymond ME, where they built quinzee for overnight shelter. Richard made Brotherhood in the Order of the Arrow, attended and was a staffed member for National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) for 2 years in which he completed his LDG.
Richard is currently a senior at Seekonk High School and is a member of the Key Club (4 yrs), Jazz Band (4 yrs), Paper Cuts Editor (2 yrs) and members of the Boys Tennis team, Science Club, Model UN. He plans on majoring in Secondary Education and History in College.

Jacob M. Merola
Jacob’s Eagle Project was the creation of three scoreboards for the Seekonk Little League. It was an especially special endeavor to him because he spent many spring evenings operating the scoreboard for his brother’s baseball games and wanted to give others a similar opportunity.
For the project, Jacob designed scoreboards inspired by Fenway’s Green Monster. He and his volunteers sanded, primed, and painted three 4’ by 8’boards and hundreds of number tiles. They also dug post holes and installed the scoreboards in the North School baseball fields. 96 hours were needed to complete this Eagle Project.
During his time with Troop 1, Jacob earned 34 Merit Badges and was inducted into the Order of the Arrow. He also attended Camp Yawgoog each summer from 2010-2016. He participated in several bike trips and community service activities, and especially enjoyed going on the Cold Weather Campout each year. As a Cub Scout, Jacob earned the Heavy Shoulder award for earning all twenty Webelo activity badges.
At Seekonk High School, Jacob served as the yearbook editor in 2017, played in jazz band and symphonic band, and participated in the audio-visual club. He is currently attending UMASS Dartmouth, where he is pursuing an engineering degree.