Paolello, scoutmaster, claims Scouting is about more than earning highest rank
The Boy Scouts of America began more than 100 years ago after an American businessman became lost in heavy fog in England.
A boy, an English scout, the name of whom was never discovered, assisted the man and would not take compensation for his deed. Soon after, the man traveled back to the United States and helped found Scouting as we know it today, an organization that teaches good character up to the highest rank of Eagle Scout.
Here in Mullica Hill, Scouting is alive and well, and there is a troop that’s been in existence no more than 10 years and has seen great success.
Mullica Hill Boy Scout Troop 7026 has produced 18 Eagle Scouts. According to eagle scout.org, approximately one Boy Scout out of 172 earns the rank of Eagle.
The Old Colony District also awarded the Boy Scout Troop of the Year to troop 7026 in 2016.
“To any boy in our troop who wants to earn the rank of Eagle, he can,” Bill Paolello, the troop’s scoutmaster, said.
The term Eagle Scout carries with it an air of respect, as it is common knowledge that it is no easy feat to obtain the rank.
Synonymous with hard work and dedication, Scouts are required to complete an extensive service project that must be approved by the troop’s board and higher-ranking Scouting officials. The projects require time management, leadership ability and more.
A recent Mullica Hill life Scout turned Eagle is Eric Uhorchuk. For his service project, Uhorchuk transformed a dilapidated green space at Clearview Regional High School into a lush, multi-use Romanesque vegetable garden. Taking more than 40 hours of labor — with many more spent planning — the space now offers fresh food for local pantries and the school, while serving as a pleasant space for students to spend time.
Justin Srsic earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 2017 by creating a book called, “A Record of Veterans of the Armed Forces Interred within Harrison Township, New Jersey” detailing the location of each veteran laid to rest in Mullica Hill. This 300-page book offers the latitude and longitude of the tombstone and the soldier’s name and rank. The beneficiary was the Veterans Commission.
A Scout must propose, plan and complete his project before turning 18. Once a young man enters into adulthood and the work is not complete, the rank can never be reached.
While those who reach the rank of Eagle can be proud to be in the company of Gerald Ford, Neil Armstrong and Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles punter, Donnie Jones, boys of all ranks benefit from engaging in Scouts.
Paolello and David Srsic, troop committee member and father of Justin, agree the purpose of Scouts goes beyond helping boys move up the ranks.
“The measure of a troop’s success is not by the number of Eagles they produce,” Paolello said. “The other 95 percent of Scouts who don’t become Eagle Scouts still get something out of it.”
The phrase “getting something out of it” may be an understatement.
There are approximately 20 boys in the troop and Paolello attests the success of the troop comes from a couple key aspects: operating year-round and putting emphasis on “boy run.”
Because Scouting must compete with the distractions teenagers face such as driving, work and budding social lives, Paolello feels keeping the troop active year-round is important, as it gives the Scouts more opportunity to engage.
One way to keep the boys engaged is by putting the boys themselves in leadership positions.
“As scoutmaster, I’m there just to guide them,” Paolello said, calling himself a “sounding board.”
The troop holds monthly meetings throughout the year and even maintains one outdoor activity or trip each month, all planned by the boys.
In the past, the troop has camped in 17-degree weather.
“You learn best camping in bad weather,” Paolello urged. “No good stories begin with, ‘we went camping and the weather was beautiful.’”
Srsic stated these trips and others like them are all about teaching the boys how to be accountable and aware.
The men point to a connection with nature being a major aspect of Scouting, stating that due to a disconnect with the natural world, people forget how to appreciate the environment, a tool that helps teach about respect.
Paolello believes no matter when a boy exits the Scouts, he has benefitted.
“When you have a young man, you don’t get an instruction manual. Scouting helps them become good men,” Paolello said.
“This helps them build character,” Srsic said as he reflected on the many occasions the troop engaged in food drives to feed the homeless and the troop’s annual roadside cleanup days.
“And it’s not only doing the projects, we help them learn why they are doing it,” Srsic said.
Troop 7026 is always looking for new Scouts to join the ranks.
“If you are 12 and have a sense of adventure, come check us out,” Srsic said.
In 2016, the Old Colony District awarded Paolello and Srsic with the “Unit Service Award” for “Dedicated Service to Youth”
The Mullica Hill Boy Scout Troop 7026 is a part of the Old Colony District in the Garden State Council and is charted by the Catholic Community of the Holy Spirit. To contact the troop, visit www.troop26mullicahill.scoutlander.com.
