Roxborough Troop Celebrates Two Eagle Scouts

Troop 334 celebrates the 100th-anniversary of the Eagle Scout award by honoring their two newest Eagle Scouts. The first one was awarded in August 1912. Since then, over 2.1 million awards have been earned by the high-achievers of the Boy Scout program. Eagle Scout is Scouting’s highest award which only one in 9,000 scouts who enter scouting ever reach. Making Eagle Scout also qualifies you for scholarships to college as well as giving you one more edge over your peers when entering the job market.

Boy Scout Troop 334, located at , on the corner of Ridge and Hermitage, recently held a court of honor for two of their young men who reached Eagle Scout. These two men marked the 60th and 61st Eagle Scouts in the Troop’s 69 years of service to our community. The two men honored were Jeremy Dunn and Tyler Loftus

Jeremy Dunn, #60, has been around the Troop since just about birth with a father and an uncle who are Assistant Scoutmasters in the Troop. Jeremy is now an Assistant Scoutmaster in the troop and attends High School in King of Prussia. Jeremy stayed with the Troop even when he moved to King of Prussia. His Eagle project was to connect two bike/walking paths together, which in effect then connected the Manayunk Towpath to the Upper Merion towpath. This connection required he and his team to clear about a quarter mile of an overgrown old rail line. His team worked great and cleared most of it in the first weekend. Jeremy, who has been interested and involved in emergency first aid, is planning to attend college in the fall for nursing.

Tyler Loftus, #61, who had never been in scouting before joining 334, just followed his friend to a meeting one night and ended up becoming an Eagle. His friend who had bridged from Pack 792 had just invited him along to the meeting. Tyler loved what he saw in scouting and decided to join. His father joined and later became the Troop committee chairman. Tyler’s Eagle project was to help paint and prepare a nursery room for infants at Holy Child. He removed old pictures and recoated the wall and painted it with a lighter color of paint. They set up an enclosed area for the infants to play in. He also set up a collection of toys that the children could play with. Tyler was able to do this over the summer and have it ready for the kids in the fall. He not only recruited a crew to do this but was able to get area businesses to donate material to his projects. Tyler, who currently attends Roman Catholic High School, is planning to go to Widener University in the fall to study History and secondary education.

The Troop treated the Eagles and their families to a banquet before the court of honor. After the dinner the two men entered the court of honor with their fellow scouts where they were presented with their Eagle awards. They then had time to honor people in their lives that had been inspiration to them.  They also received many awards and letters from businesses, political leaders and fellow Eagle scouts. They were given their Eagle Charge by fellow Eagle Scout Donald Dunn #25. At the end of the night the new Eagle scouts left and joined their fellow Eagle scouts.

The night was not only special since it was the 100th anivery of the Eagle Scout award, but also for the many Eagle scouts who returned to the nest to help celebrate these new Eagles. It also marked the fourth member of the Dunn family making Eagle Scout,

Bill #15, Donald #25, Justin #56 and Jeremy#60 in Troop 334, the only family in the Troop’s history to do this thus far. 

Normally at an Eagle court of honor the young men honor their Mother and Father for helping them along the road to Eagle. They also have an opportunity to recognize someone with a mentor pin who also influenced them as they grew up (in most cases someone other than a parent). These two young men took time away from their night of celebration to honor their scoutmaster,  David Craighead.   Jeremy and Tyler  presented  David with the Call to Service Award. This Award is for those who volunteer in their community and is one of the highest honors a volunteer can receive. It was their way of saying thanks to David not only for all the time he mentored them as they pursued Eagle Scout, but for the many hours he has served over the last 14 years as Scoutmaster.

Boy Scout Troop 334 is a traditional scout program that meets at Leverington Presbyterian Church on Monday nights 7:30-9:00 from Sept. to June and is open to boys 10 1/2 to 18 years of age. There is also a Cub Scout program for younger boys from 1st grade to 5th grade that meets on Friday nights 7 to 8 p.m. If you are interested in finding out more about these programs or anything about scouting in general around our town feel free to contact Scoutmaster David Craighead at 215-482-7479 or at scoutmastrdavid@verizon.net.

Information provided by Troop 334.