David Doucette was scurrying with the Penn Station crowd, rushing to catch a train whose platform was just posted on the big board, when he saw a woman carrying a large suitcase struggle to get down the stairs amid the mob.
It was then, he said, that his instinct to run toward danger — instilled through years of Boy Scout training and leadership roles with the Theodore Roosevelt Council — kicked into gear, and he assisted her.
“If anyone ever asks you whether scouting is relevant to society, just ask that lady,” Doucette told an Eagle Scout installation of four Manhasset Troop 97 scouts on Saturday.
It was the first of two Eagle Scout installations Doucette would attend Saturday with each taking place simultaneously.
Troop 97’s Ben P. Morse, Domenick “Nicky” Naccarato, Ryan P. Shelley and William Wong were receiving the honor just as Plandome Troop 71’s Vincent Tomaselli, Peter Boyadjian and Garrett Bryne ascended the rank.
They join more than two million Boy Scouts to achieve the Eagle Scout rank since 1912, which represents less than one percent of boys to have ever put on a uniform and collect merit badges.
“As Eagle Scouts, I am confident they will be successful in their careers and make a meaningful contribution to their country,” said John Walter, Troop 97 scout master.
The boys each received citations from the Town of North Hempstead, the state Assembly and state Senate prior to taking the Eagle Scout oath.
“We hope you go onto whatever it is life intends for you to do and you come back to be the great young citizens that you are,” said North Hempstead Town Councilwoman Anna Kaplan (D-Great Neck), whose district includes Manhasset and Great Neck where the boys completed their service projects.
Morse painted the second floor hallway, doors and archway at Adventures in Learning Manhasset over his 2014 winter break, managing more than 20 volunteer scouts.
Naccarato and a group of scouts refurbished the playground at the Manhasset-Great Neck EOC, adding two benches, a bird feeder and planting flowers and spreading wood chips.
Shelley created an informational sign to accompany the new bird aviary at the Sands Point Preserve, and landscaped the area around the sign to include new flower beds.
Wong led a fundraising effort to furnish and clean the Manhasset-Great Neck EOC, raising more than $900 to create offices and a media center for students.
North Hempstead Town Councilwoman Dina De Giorgio (R-Port Washington) said Eagle Scout installations are among her favorite public events because she is often inspired by the boys’ volunteer efforts.
“It’s about the ‘we’ instead of the ‘me,’ and in our society today there’s too much of a focus on the ‘me’ and not enough on the ‘we,’” she said.
In his remarks to Troop 97, state Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) acknowledged the boys’ parents and troop leaders for providing them a strong foundation on which to build their character as young men.
“How do you get to a point where you understand that there are things in life worth fighting for and believing in that isn’t just about ourselves? A belief in god, country, family, and doing the right thing, that’s what scouting does,” Martins said.
In a statement, he also congratulated Tomaselli, Boyadjian and Byrne’s achievement, saying they “have proven themselves worthy of scouting’s highest rank and now join an elite group which includes Neil Armstrong, Gerald Ford and Stephen Spielberg.”
