Youth soccer clinic at New York Avenue fields in Smithtown.
Youth soccer clinic at New York Avenue fields in Smithtown.
Youth soccer clinic at New York Avenue fields in Smithtown.
Youth soccer clinic at New York Avenue fields in Smithtown.
Youth soccer clinic at New York Avenue fields in Smithtown.
Youth soccer clinic at New York Avenue fields in Smithtown.
Youth soccer clinic at New York Avenue fields in Smithtown.
Youth soccer clinic at New York Avenue fields in Smithtown.
Youth soccer clinic at New York Avenue fields in Smithtown.
By Steven Zaitz
The Smithtown Kickers youth soccer league, in conjunction with Alyssa Faro, a sophomore at Smithtown High School West and aspiring Eagle Scout, put on a free youth soccer clinic on March 9-10 at the New York Avenue fields on the campus of the Smithtown Central School District Administrative offices.
Over 50 children received instruction from Faro and eight of her soccer friends and teammates as the Kickers Spring season will get underway in less than two weeks. The girls ran drills on both Saturday and Sunday for three hours despite stretches of inclement weather on and off throughout the weekend.
Faro, who managed the project from inception to execution, did so as a part of her ascension to the elite rank of Eagle Scout. If she is fortunate enough to achieve this high honor, Faro would be one of only six female Eagle Scouts at Troop 539 of Kings Park.
“I can remember being on this very soccer field when I was five years old and I love to pay it forward,” said Faro. “It’s important to me to make a positive impact in the community and doing it through soccer is such a great feeling.”
The budding soccer stars, who ranged in age between four and ten, also had a great feeling learning the game from Alyssa and her staff.
“I had a lot of fun and I scored a lot of goals,” said a seven-year-old boy named Daniel. “I can’t wait for the season to start.”
The Smithtown Kickers season will kick off on March 23 at various locations throughout Smithtown.
John Smillie and his American flag retirement drop off box at Comsewogue Library. Photo by Julianne Mosher
There’s a new way to donate old flags thanks to one local Eagle Scout.
John Smillie, from Boy Scout Troop 454 of Terryville, made it his mission over the last year to create an American flag retirement drop box for Comsewogue Public Library as his Eagle Scout Service Project.
He said that his mother, June, would enroll him in library programs since he was small.
“I’ve been coming here my whole life,” he said. “And it gave so much to my childhood that I wanted to give back when I had the chance, and this was my chance.”
It started last year, just before the pandemic hit, when Smillie was thinking about his project. After his initial idea fell through, he contacted the library who was thrilled to have him come on board.
“I knew we wanted to do something with the flag,” he said.
Photo by Julianne Mosher
Smillie said his troop always had a need for flags, because during summer camp, they have a flag retirement ceremony. Usually during the month leading up to the event, the scouts scramble to find flags to properly dispose of.
It is illegal to throw away an American flag, and they must be destroyed with dignity, preferably by burning.
“So, I took that need, and turned it into a solution to that need with my projects,” he said. “Now we can continually collect flags all year and then retire them properly in a ceremony at camp every year.”
The project took a long time, he said, and kept him busy on top of his already intense schedule. Between work, school, buying a car, applying for college and his other household duties, he said it was a challenge — but a fulfilling one.
When Smillie reached out to director Debbie Engelhardt last year, she was thrilled to have another scout donate his time and project to the library. She said that over the course of her nine-year tenure at Comsewogue, he is the second Eagle Scout to work with her.
“This was my second experience partnering as a beneficiary, which came right on the heels of the other project,” she said. “It was just a no brainer for me to want to help him, and to have the library gain a lovely project in the process, and to have that available for the community as much as we are open, is a win-win.”
Englehardt said literally a few minutes after the box was dropped off, librarians said they had flags to put inside.
“Five minutes later, it had its first deposit,” she said.
June Smillie said that it can be hard to find a spot to donate retired flags, since there aren’t many drop off boxes around. The only place she knew of was to give it to an associate at Ace Hardware. The box at the library makes it easy for others to find now.
“For him to want to do the box because it helps represent the military and his grandparents, it’s just very overwhelming because I know how much he cares about it,” she said. “I’m very proud of him, and I honestly couldn’t have asked for anything more than what he’s already done.”
Smillie will hopefully achieve his rank within the next few weeks — a huge accomplishment he’s waited a long time for.
“It’ll open up so many doors for you and so many opportunities for you in the future,” he said. “You join pretty much an exclusive group of people who can say, ‘We went and achieved the Eagle Scout rank. We did this. We earned this,’ and just to be a part of that was always a goal of mine ever since I was young.”
Cole Swensen, a Boy Scout in Miller Place Troop 204. created a bench and concrete pads along the Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway Trail. Photo by Kyle Barr
With the weather warming, and with more people available to take walks while home from work and school (maintaining social distancing, of course), one local Boy Scout’s Eagle Scout Service Project has made a lasting impact.
Port Jefferson resident Cole Swensen, a member of Miller Place Boy Scout Troop 204, installed a bench, along with concrete pads on the Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway Trail earlier this month.
“I’m happy with the finished product,” Swensen said.
Swensen, a senior at Earl L. Vandermeulen High School in Port Jefferson, said he and his dad use the trail often for running and biking and saw there was a need for a new bench, made from wood composite, at the top of the hill just after the westernmost trail entrance in Setauket. The young man also installed three concrete pads on the trail, one at his new bench and two more at existing benches.
“These pads not only clean up the look of the benches and trail, but they also prevent the area in front of the benches from getting muddy,” Swensen said. “It also is a place for strollers to easily get off the main trail.”
Charlie McAteer, the chair of the Friends of the Greenway, said Troop 204 has been a huge boon to the trail, having done five projects with the Greenway, with one more still in the planning phase. This new project comes just as the Greenway is getting increased usage thanks to more people looking to spend time outdoors while maintaining a distance from others.
“This is a remarkable commitment to the Setauket to Port Jeff Station Greenway Trail,” McAteer said. “The community will be enjoying these for decades.”
The high school senior said he had been working on the project since before last summer but had to put it on pause after a severe bike accident led to a concussion. He conducted his fundraising last month, just as things with the coronavirus crisis were starting to close in. Still, he managed to raise about $1,000 toward the project. The build was over a three-day period with the bulk of the work centered on installing the new bench and making sure the concrete pads were leveled against the slope of the hill.
Swensen said he is still waiting on the finalized paperwork for his Eagle Scout application, since all offices are closed everything now has to be mailed.
After graduating high school, Swensen expects to attend SUNY Maritime to study naval architecture, involved in designing the hulls of boats and ships.
Swensen’s father, Eric, said his son has been interested in boats and sailing since he was young.
Northport resident Ryan Starzee achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank awarded by the Boy Scouts of America. Starzee, 17, is a member of Troop 5 in East Northport and a student at Northport High School.
To become an Eagle Scout, a Scout must meet several requirements, including developing, organizing, directing and completing an approved project to benefit a nonprofit organization.
A puppy at the Guide Dog Foundation uses the puppy-up curb stool
For his Eagle project, Starzee built training tools for The Guide Dog Foundation, a Smithtown organization that provides trained guide dogs to blind and visually impaired individuals from around the country. With assistance from about a dozen boys from Troop 5, Starzee built four “Puppy Up-Curbs” and four “Puppy Adventure Boxes,” which were requested by the organization. The Puppy Up-Curbs are durable wooden curbs that are used to train the dogs. The Puppy Adventure Boxes are similar to baby gyms: They are constructed with PVC pipes, and they feature balls, cups, bells and other items hanging down from plastic cords for puppies to play with and learn about their environment.
For many Scouts, the biggest hurdle to becoming an Eagle Scout is finding a suitable Eagle project. While many nonprofit organizations could benefit from Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts doing a project for them, some are so busy trying to get all of their work done with limited staff that they do not have a system in place to meet with Scouts, brainstorm ideas and fill out the necessary paperwork.
The Guide Dog Foundation, however, provided Starzee with a list of projects it needed done. At their initial meeting at the foundation’s offices, Starzee and a representative from the organization decided together which items he would build. He then had to get the project approved by the Boy Scouts.
Puppies at the Guide Dog Foundation explore one of the four “Puppy Adventure Boxes”
“I was very excited to do a project for the Guide Dog Foundation,” Starzee said. “For one thing, I love dogs. And this is a great organization that provides an important service. And they were very nice and helpful to me.”
To raise funds for the materials for his project, Starzee held a car wash at Pep Boys Auto Parts & Service in Commack.
“Pep Boys has been very generous, allowing other boys in my troop and I to hold our Eagle car washes in their parking lot,” Starzee said. “I held my car wash last September and I was very lucky with the weather. A lot of boys from the troop came out to help, the drivers were very generous and we raised $345.”
In addition to completing his project, Starzee had to fulfill other requirements to make Eagle, including earning a minimum of 21 Merit Badges, which recognize ability in activities like swimming, orienteering, first aid, camping and wood carving. Starzee earned 25 Merit Badges in total.
“It was a great feeling of accomplishment to finally become Eagle,” Starzee said. “I worked very hard, but I had a lot of help, from my family, from kids in my troop, from my Eagle coach, David Hunt, who spent a lot of time meeting with me, and from the adult leaders in my troop, who have volunteered their time for many years to help me get to this point.”
Aidan Donnelly, an Eagle Scout from Troop 362 in Selden, spearheaded a project to have fishing line resource recovery/recycling containers installed near Suffolk County fishing spots . Photo from Aidan Donnelly
By Karina Gerry
A Centereach High School senior and Eagle Scout has dedicated much of his time to protecting Long Island beaches and wildlife.
During a terrapin turtle project, Aidan Donnelly searched, tracked, monitored, measured, weighed and coded turtles to take environmental data and GPS location of the turtles. Photo by Aidan Donnelly
Aidan Donnelly, 17, joined his local Boy Scout troop when he was in fifth grade after he was inspired by his older cousin’s Court of Honor ceremony, the highest rank a Scout can earn. Donnelly saw all the volunteer projects his cousin was involved in and wanted to make a difference as well. Now an Eagle Scout himself, Donnelly has planned and been the leader of four different wildlife projects since 2014.
“I really can’t describe it,” Donnelly said. “I just love seeing my projects make a positive difference. I love seeing the difference I was able to make through my projects and knowing I’ve helped the beach and so many people.”
Donnelly has been volunteering since he was nine years old, when he joined an educational program at West Meadow Beach called Beach Rangers, a program that teaches young kids about West Meadow Beach and the ecosystem there. He credits Beach Rangers and the cleanups he participated in as inspiration for the many wildlife projects he has started.
“I was pretty sad the first time to see how much garbage was left at the beach,” Donnelly said. “Which sort of sparked my interest in wanting to help out. So, I did beach cleanups every year from then on, and once I got into Boys Scouts, I got my troop involved in the cleanup.”
Through his Eagle Scout project, which he completed in 2015, Donnelly led, designed and planned the building and installation of an osprey nest platform at West Meadow Beach, when he was just 13 years old. In order to complete the project, Donnelly had to work with local politicians, such as Town of Brookhaven Councilwoman Valerie Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station), who recognizes him as a true asset to the community.
“I was pretty sad the first time to see how much garbage was left at the beach.”
— Aidan Donnelly
“Aidan has an obvious sense of loyalty and duty to his community,” Cartright said. “He goes above and beyond in all that he does, and his dedication is reflected in academic honors, high achievements in scouting, and his organization of community activities. In my role as a town council member I have met hundreds of outstanding young people in our community, but Aidan is exceptional even among that elite group.”
Out of the many projects he has been involved in, Donnelly said he felt particularly proud of his most recent one — a fishing line resource recovery/ recycling project that he just completed this past December. The project is a countywide sustainable fishing line recovery and recycling project that is installed at West Meadow Beach, Stony Brook Harbor, Port Jefferson, Caleb Smith State Park Preserve, Deep Pond Conservation Area, Lake Ronkonkoma, South Haven County Park, Bubbles Falls, Rattlesnake Brook near Oakdale and West Brook Pond. The project required Donnelly to work with many outside sources, such as community members and an out-of-state recycling facility.
“I needed to find somewhere that would take the line and recycle it,” Donnelly said, “rather than it ending up in the trash or in landfills. I did find a Midwest company, and they sent me postage-paid shipping boxes to give to the organizations.”
Bill Schwalback, scoutmaster of Donnelly’s BSA Troop 362, has known him since 2016 when his son joined the troop where Donnelly was serving as troop guide. He has seen the growth and drive of the 17-year-old since then and notes that Donnelly has always jumped on the opportunity to take on a leadership role and enjoys passing on his knowledge to others.
“Aidan does not deflect an opportunity to teach others,” Schwalback said. “He thrives on the ability to share his knowledge and his passion with others, and it is great to see a young adult fill with pride when he sees something to completion and knows that it will make a difference to the targeted population or species.”
Body tissue belonging to James Nielsen, 17, who died in July, could prove helpful for researchers of aggressive, rare form of cancer
James Nielsen, 17, of Port Jefferson Station, while on a family trip in Tennessee to see the solar eclipse in 2017, just weeks before he and his family learned he had cancer. Photo from Steven Nielsen
Making sense of loss is never easy, though a Port Jefferson Station family has drawn strength from their 17-year-old son’s bravery and desire to help others, even in his last days.
“Bad things happen to people and this just happened to happen to me, and we’re just going to do the best we can with it,” James Nielsen told his father Steven when they learned the 17-year-old had been diagnosed with a form of cancer so rare and devastating only one documented case of survival exists.
James Nielsen, 17, of Port Jefferson Station, after becoming an Eagle Scout. Photo from Steven Nielsen
The Comsewogue High School student was diagnosed with NUT midline carcinoma in December 2017, an aggressive form of cancer akin to a death sentence. Despite the devastating prognosis, the Eagle Scout from Troop 454 engaged in rare, barely fleeting moments of despair, according to his parents, even spending the day he died — July 16, 2018 — playing UNO card games and watching the World Cup.
James’ form of cancer is characterized by tumors that form in bones or soft tissue. No effective treatment for NMC exists, there are no guidelines, and current approaches to treatment are based on discussions among a few oncologists who each have had a single experience treating this disease, according to the writings of Dr. Christopher French, a pathologist researching NMC at Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center in Boston, who also advised James’ family after his diagnosis.
“The cancer type that he had is extremely rare and he has a yet even rarer variant of that cancer,” French said in a phone interview. “His tumor was really quite unique. It had a different gene, a variant that is extremely uncommon.”
In late August 2017, upon arriving at cross-country team practice at Comsewogue, James’ mother Jean Nielsen said she noticed a sizable lump on her son’s leg. She said he brushed off her concern, went to practice, and even ran an additional mile when he got home. That night, she had her husband Steven Nielsen examine James’ leg. He said it looked swollen but not necessarily alarming, but when he touched the tumor it was rock solid. A trip that same night to a walk-in medical clinic led to a visit to Stony Brook University Hospital, and by that weekend the family knew their oldest child of four had cancer.
Initially doctors believed he had Ewing’s sarcoma, a diagnosis with a far higher survival rate and clearer treatment options than NMC. In the early stages of his battle, James’ mother said she wrote “treatable and curable” on the first page of a journal the family kept pertaining to his illness. James began what was expected to be a 10-week cycle of chemotherapy, but by the second week of October 2017, it became clear the tumor wasn’t responding to treatment, and immediate surgery would be necessary.
At about 10 p.m. Oct. 12, 2017, just six hours before he was scheduled to head to Manhattan for surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, James’ surgeon called and informed his parents there was a possibility he would need to remove their son’s entire leg, and not just portions of the thigh muscle and femur as initially expected.
“I’ll never forget, he looked at us, he sat silent for a moment, and he goes, ‘OK — we’ll do what we have to do,’” James’ father recalled. “And then it was pretty much, ‘Good night.’”
During hour 17 of a 20-hour surgery, the Nielsens were finally informed James would be able to keep his leg.
A positive outlook is often cited as essential in situations like James’, and for the Nielsens positivity flowed on a two-way street.
James Nielsen rides around Manhattan on Thanksgiving night 2017 after undergoing a round of chemotherapy. Photo from Steven Nielsen
“I guess we’ve always just kind of been in the place like, ‘It doesn’t help’ — letting your head spin and certainly getting overwhelmed by emotion — you have to kind of keep everything together for him,” Steven Nielsen said. “He made us so strong. We made him strong, but he led the way.”
Being able to salvage his leg was a small, yet short-lived victory. By December, doctors were finally able to pinpoint his diagnosis. Staring down a cancer with such long odds of survival precipitated an unusual response from the Nielsens — a trip to Disney World.
“We didn’t let it control us, we controlled it,” the father said. Self-pity was never in James’ vernacular. “We were never naive about the possibilities of what could happen, but we also, all of us, really felt that it wasn’t worth putting your energy there. Put energy toward your cure. And so we lived life that way.”
The family dedicated their son’s last months to embracing life, spending Thanksgiving evening perusing Manhattan after an eight-hour round of chemo, looking at stores on Madison Avenue, a night his father remembered as “magical.” They visited a ranch in upstate New York just weeks before his death, one of James’ favorite places to vacation. They went to the beach.
While their focus was getting the most of their time remaining, James’ parents were far from ready to give up the fight. Feeling like their experience at Memorial Sloan Kettering left something to be desired, Steven Nielsen did some research that led him to French. James participated in some clinical trials and spent time at the Boston facility, where he and his father even managed to find time to explore the city and visit colleges with notable pharmacy programs, a field in which James had expressed a future interest.
The father’s dogged pursuit of answers for his son led French to mistakenly call him “doctor” during one of their numerous correspondence.
“He wrote in a way that made me think that he knew quite a bit about medicine, I just assumed he was a physician,” French said, laughing. Both Nielsens are teachers in the Comsewogue district.
French is hoping to soon be provided with donated tissue from James for the purpose of research, one of the teen’s dying wishes. His will be the first cancer cell line, which are living cancer cells used for research, with NMC that French will have been able to get his hands on, an essential gift if there’s any hope for untangling the mysteries of the cancer form.
“The tissue that he donated at his autopsy for research was priceless, and potentially a very valuable tool to perform research with,” French said. “He was just a sweet individual. It tore my heart out when I met him very briefly … It was quite riveting to meet him just sort of knowing the truth, that this was likely to not go well.”
For James the decision to donate tissue for research was reflexive and required about two minutes of thought, according to his parents. The teen was known for reusing Dixie cups and napkins because of his aversion to creating waste.
The Nielsen family goes pumpkin picking shortly before he underwent surgery in Oct. 2017 to remove a tumor from his right leg. Photo from Steven Nielsen
“For him it was just what you do — he didn’t think it was a big deal,” his mother said. “What we look to as heroic or whatever is not really that heroic. Sometimes unassuming people are the most heroic, not people who are very vociferous.”
She said the family can take some comfort in knowing there’s a possibility James’ struggles could lead to a better future for someone else.
“I think if you believe everyone has a purpose, you’d like to think such a horrible result would end with something purposeful, like contributing toward the cure for other people,” the father said. “For us to have him taken away, you hope that that’s the reason.”
The Nielsens expressed gratitude for the support and well wishes they’ve received from the community. Some of James’ classmates have taken up fundraising efforts to get a memorial built in downtown Port Jefferson. Members of the school’s marching band wore pins honoring their fallen peer at the homecoming football game this month. Still, his parents stressed James was not interested in pity or ritualistic gestures of remembrance.
“He was very kind, very sweet, very familial — old kind of qualities that aren’t maybe appreciated as much these days,” his mom said when asked how she hoped he’d be remembered. “He was very selfless.”
To donate to aid in NMC research visit https://www.myjimmyfundpage.org/give/nmcregistryfund.
Joseph DiBiasi shows off his completed project at the William Miller House property on North Country Road in Miller Place Sept. 29. Photo by Alex Petroski
Visitors to Miller Place-Mount Sinai Historical Society’s annual Postman Pete event are in for an improved experience thanks to the ingenuity of a local Boy Scout who has reached Eagle status.
Boy Scouts hoping to become Eagle Scouts, the highest rank attainable by a male Scout, are tasked with completing a project that demonstrates leadership and benefits the community. Joseph DiBiasi, a 17-year-old Comsewogue High School senior and member of Boy Scout Troop 1776 said he has been attending the historical society’s Postman Pete festivities since he was a kid, an event that gives kids the chance to hand over a letter to be delivered to Santa around Christmas time.
Those interested line up to head into the building on the rear of the historical society’s property on North Country Road in Miller Place, where they head in when it’s their turn. The small building on the same grounds as the larger William Miller House has two points of entry, though the rear exit had about an 18-inch drop off from the doorway to a layer of rocks, making it unsafe for youngsters to utilize. Instead, a logjam would regularly take place at the main point of entry where those entering would have to saunter around those exiting.
“When kids would come in and see Postman Pete, bring their letter, and then they’d have to make a U-turn and go back out,” society treasurer Gerard Mannarino said Sept. 29 during the ceremony to unveil DiBiasi’s completed project. “It’s not an area that you can have traffic in both directions. We always wanted to be able to open the back door and have them go out, but we had the danger because the step down from there was big and it was just a big rock.”
For his project, DiBiasi drew up plans and constructed a deck, equipped with a railing, to make the rear of the building accessible and usable. The project required the drawing of plans, approval from the Town of Brookhaven building department and Historic District Advisory Committee, some redrawing and reimagining and lots of hard work through the spring and summer.
“In 2016 when Gerrard originally showed this to me I was like, ‘Wow, this needs to be fixed,’” DiBiasi said. “As a kid I went to Postman Pete and I just felt like, when I was a kid it was a big thing for me. So I thought this would be a great addition.”
Greg Muroff, DiBiasi’s Scoutmaster, said he was proud of his Scout’s diligence and dedication to the project, as it also exposed him to some of the “red tape” involved with getting construction projects approved by local government.
“It came out better than I saw in the drawing,” Muroff said. “I knew this was going to be a bit challenging for him but Joseph definitely persevered. He aspires to be an engineer at some point in his life. He definitely has a mathematical mind, and he put pen to paper.”
Brookhaven town Councilwoman Jane Bonner (C-Rocky Point) attended the event and presented proclamations to DiBiasi and Michael Muroff, another Scout from Troop 1776 who presented his completed project that day.
“We always like to take time out of our day to recognize and honor our Scouts,” Bonner said. “So much attention is focused on the bad things our kids are doing and not on the good things they’re doing. It makes me feel good to know that we’re surrounded by some really great kids.”
Mount Sinai Scout Michael Muroff stands with his completed Eagle Scout project Sept. 29, the front door of the Miller Place-Mount Sinai Historical Society. Photo by Alex Petroski
A Mount Sinai Boy Scout literally restored an entryway to local history to complete his Eagle Scout project.
The front door to the William Miller House on North Country Road, a centuries-old building that has long served as the headquarters for the Miller Place-Mount Sinai Historical Society, was in a state of disrepair for longer than historian Edna Giffen could remember. Now, thanks to 17-year-old Scout Michael Muroff from Troop 1776, a brand new door constructed with a nod to history in mind hangs from the hinges, serving as a refurbished entry to local history.
Boy Scouts hoping to achieve Eagle status, the highest rank attainable by a male Scout, are tasked with completing a project that demonstrates leadership and benefits the community. Repairing the front door of the historical society met the criteria for Muroff, who said he and his family had been attending events — like the annual Country Fair that took place Sept. 29 during Muroff’s project unveiling — at the house since he was a kid.
Eagle Scout Michael Muroff, center, receives a proclamation from Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Jane Bonner, third from right, after unveiling is project Sept. 29. Photo by Alex Petroski
“I’ve always had an interest in local history, and it was always a subject I excelled at in class, and I thought by doing this project it would be a good way of giving back to the community and something that I really enjoy,” he said.
The work started with four to five weekends dedicated to just stripping the old paint off of the door frame using a heat gun and metal stripper, according to the Scout. With help from a local woodworker and others, a new, yet true to the original batten door was constructed. Batten doors traditionally have between six and eight wooden planks bound together. Muroff’s door features seven planks and includes the door’s original hinges, restored and repainted as well as part of the project. He also found authentic galvanized nails to match the original and maintain the new door’s historic integrity. The door’s original handle was left as is though, according to Muroff.
“The old door was falling apart and dilapidated, so we had to just completely make a new one,” Muroff said.
Town of Brookhaven Councilwoman Jane Bonner (C-Rocky Point) attended the event and joked she had never seen the front door of the building hang so straight and close so tightly.
“We always like to take time out of our day to recognize and honor our Scouts,” she said. “So much attention is focused on the bad things our kids are doing and not on the good things they’re doing. It makes me feel good to know that we’re surrounded by some really great kids.”
In August, Muroff’s sister Rebecca completed her Gold Award project, the equivalent to the Eagle project but for Girl Scouts, which entailed cataloging the historical society’s vast collection of historic photos. The Scouts’ dad Greg Muroff served as Michael’s Scoutmaster throughout his time working through the program.
“It’s just wonderful that many years coming down to the Country Fair and to see Postman Pete, just to have my children Rebecca and Michael give back to the historical society and the community is just a wonderful thing,” he said. “Mike has a tremendous love of history and this was an ideal project for him.”
He said it will be special for both him and his son to drive past the house on North Country Road for years to come and see his hard work front and center.
“I have to say, as his dad and Scoutmaster I’m especially proud,” the Scoutmaster said. “The Eagle Scout award is more than just a project, it’s a culmination of their Boy Scout career. It means a lot of leadership, service to the community and self-discipline.”
James Snider earned 33 merit badges and built a memorial garden at Port Jefferson Emergency Medical Service to earn his Eagle Scout award. Photo from Kim Snider
Within Boy Scout Troop 1776, adults and Scouts alike have always turned to Mount Sinai High School senior James Snider to lead the way. Whether it’s making sure his fellow Scouts have their tents set up and food prepared before monthly camping trips or energizing the troop with a rousing speech in meetings, the 17-year-old, who started as a Cub Scout in first grade, has served as an exemplary take-charge member.
“He’s always been very mature and served as a great teacher,” troop Scoutmaster Greg Muroff said. “His peers naturally gravitate toward him and he has the respect of everybody in the group.”
Mount Sinai Troop 1776 member James Snider became the first of his group to become an Eagle Scout. Photo from James Snider
So it makes sense that Snider recently became the first member of Troop 1776, which formed in 2013, to earn the coveted Eagle Scout Award, the highest rank a Scout can receive, which has been achieved by a small percentage of Scouts since 1912, according to the National Eagle Scout Associations. To become Eagle Scout, not only did he have to earn 21 merit badges — Snider collected a total of 33, including a bronze and gold Eagle palm — but also complete a year-long community service project. After the death of two members of Port Jefferson Emergency Medical Services on Crystal Brook Hollow Road in Mount Sinai in 2016, Snider committed himself to creating a memorial garden and sitting area on the department’s property. Between September 2016 and October 2017, when the garden was made official during a dedication ceremony, he installed a stepping stone path, tables, chairs and rose bushes, and built two wooden benches around a small tree on a stretch of empty open space through a donation provided by one of his troop leaders.
“It feels really good, and was definitely worth the time,” Snider said of his project’s impact. “I’m glad I made it to the end of the journey without giving up. I hope to be the example for future troop members.”
His mother, Kim Snider, a Suffolk County correction officer, said her son has already done that.
“A fire has been ignited by James — he’s definitely motivated others through this,” she said. “He’s probably the most determined human being I can possibly imagine. He always wants to do what’s right for the community and prides himself in leadership. He’s a very quiet boy, but has the ability to change an atmosphere. That’s just him — he naturally has good in his heart.”
Matthew Callen, a Mount Sinai junior and Snider’s scouting peer since fourth grade, said he is among those inspired.
“I really think it has impacted everybody in the troop,” said Callen, of his friend being named the first Eagle Scout from the troop. “Seeing him achieve Eagle opened my eyes to something I really wanted and gave me a lot of initiative to get focused and achieve this rank myself.”
“Seeing him achieve Eagle opened my eyes to something I really wanted and gave me a lot of initiative to get focused and achieve this rank myself.”
— Matthew Callen
Brian Callen, the Scout’s father, who is a committee chair member within Troop 1776, said when the idea came up to found the group, designed as a boy-led program that started with 20 members, it was decided to make Snider the second senior patrol leader at just 13. A year later, he was promoted.
“He quickly became comfortable speaking in front of large groups and conducting awards distributions,” Callen said. “The adults are really only there as supervisors. The boys do the planning, run the meetings and the camping trips, and he fell right into the role of leader. He’s never been the type of kid you ever had to correct.”
Snider has participated in the Great Brookhaven Cleanup, placed flags at Calverton Cemetery leading up to Memorial Day and, for the past four years, volunteered at a local veterans home.
During a ceremony held in honor of Snider’s accomplishment at Mount Sinai High School last month, Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai) called his persistence a “vital asset to the community.”
“Through his hard work, dedication and commitment to scouting, James has proven himself to be an extraordinary leader,” Anker said. “His Eagle Scout accomplishment will set an example for the younger scouts in Troop 1776. I congratulate him and wish him continued success in his future endeavors.”
Snider will be attending Sacred Heart University in Connecticut in the fall in pursuit of a degree in business finance.
“In the future I’d like to be head of a company, and Boy Scouts has helped me become a leader,” Snider said. “I’ve learned to treat others with respect, make sure everyone around me is happy and everything is dealt with correctly.”
Eagle Scout John Ninia stands by the dogwood trees he planted at Frank Melville Memorial Park. Photo from Jerry Ninia
For one Eagle Scout, earning coveted merit badges has been more than a pastime; it’s been a mission. The undertaking has led him to earn all 137 badges a Scout can receive — an accomplishment only 6 percent of scouts in the nation have achieved, according to the Boy Scouts of America website.
John Ninia, of Poquott, a senior at Ward Melville High School, moved up from Cub Scout to Boy Scout when he was 11 years old. Ninia said it took him six years to earn all 137 badges. A scout needs 21 badges to become an Eagle Scout — 16 being mandatory ones.
“I just went for all of them,” the Troop 70 Eagle Scout said.
When he was 12 years old, Ninia said he attended Boy Scout camp, where his mission to collect every badge first became his goal.
John Ninia, an Eagle Scout in Troop 70, proudly wears his 137 badges. Photo from Jerry Ninia
“I remember after my first week of summer camp, I was on my way home and I was really thrilled,” he said. “Usually you can get five badges if you’re really into it but I got about 11, and my parents mentioned that I could go back for a second week.”
Ninia said he immediately signed up for the second week, and when he earned 20 badges that summer, he said it was a great feeling. The Scout said some merit badges, such as one for art, can take a day and a half, while personal fitness, family life and other badges require more time, even months. He said a scuba badge took several days of training to earn certification, while achieving the water skiing one was the most difficult, but he kept trying until he could stand up on the skis.
Ninia completed three Hornaday projects, which are tasks that involve the environment. He eliminated invasive knotweed, a Japanese plant, at West Meadow Beach, planted trees at Frank Melville Memorial Park and installed a rain garden in the Village of Poquott’s California Park. Working to improve the environment is a passion of his, and he plans to major in environmental studies in college.
Frank Melville Memorial Foundation Park Board President Robert Reuter said Ninia worked diligently to clear a substantial vine-choked area adjacent to the Bates House in the park. His work saved existing trees and allowed for the planting of several native white flowering dogwoods.
“It’s revealing of his commitment that I get calls from John offering to continue the work,” Reuter said. “This young man has a bright future underpinned by his extraordinary personal achievements and service to community.”
Robert Mandell, who was Ninia’s troop leader for the majority of the time he has been in Boy Scouts, said he remembers the teenager coming to him telling him how he earned badges for various activities such as glass blowing and concrete mixing. The former troop leader he said he would question him at length about what he did to earn the badge.
“I quizzed them like the FBI,” Mandell said.
He said he wasn’t surprised when Ninia earned every badge, saying he is a smart, hardworking teenager.
“This young man is driven,” the former troop leader said.
While the experiences earning the badges have provided great memories for Ninia, he said what he has enjoyed most during his Scouting years has been “providing leadership to a group of scouts and helping them with their own ability to rank up.”
“This young man has a bright future underpinned by his extraordinary personal achievements and service to community.”
— Robert Reuter
Despite a busy schedule with school, the cross-country team and DECA, Ninia said it’s important to make time for Scouting.
The high school senior said one can no longer be a scout after 18, but while his days as a scout may be over soon, he hopes to always be a part of the organization in some way, even though he’s not sure about being a troop leader.
“It’s hard, and I do have a lot of stuff and I’m a busy guy, but Scouting is something I’ve loved so I’ve always been able to make time for it,” he said. His advice to other Scouts? “Try your best and shoot for the stars.”
Ninia’s father Jerry said the family, which includes mom Lynn and siblings James and Christina, is proud of their Scout and his accomplishments.
“He’s a good kid,” his father said. “He works very hard He perseveres. He has a can-do attitude. He’s just the kind of guy that makes things happen.”
Achieving merit badges makes a Scout a more well-rounded individual, according to Jerry Ninia.
“When you think about it, 137 merit badges, it touches on everything from art to architecture to woodworking to metalworking to horseback riding to law and medicine to water sports and everything in between,” he said. “You can probably strike up a conversation with anyone as a young adult and speak to anyone from practically any walk of life because you’ll probably feel some commonality.”
