Boy Scout Troop 12 of Edison recently held its annual Fred Langenohl Memorial Awards Dinner, where four Eagle Scouts from Edison and Metuchen were recognized.
The Troop is chartered by the Washington School PTO and belongs to the Raritan Valley District of the Patriots’ Path Council. Troop 12 Scouts in grades 5-12 have been serving the community since 1917. The following Scouts were celebrated for earning Scouting’s highest rank: Eli Hines, Akshay Malik, Patrick Reid and Liam Weeks.
Eli has been involved with Scouting since joining Cub Scouts as a Wolf Cub with Pack 69 when he was in second grade. In fifth grade, he crossed over into Troop 216 after earning the Arrow of Light award. While in Troop 216, Eli mastered the skills and earned the merit badges required to move through the ranks. Being an avid outdoorsman, he participated in countless weekend camping trips, district-wide camporees, hikes, backpacking excursions and summer camp each year. With Troop 216, Eli served as scribe for one year and as a den chief to a Pack 69 Webelos den. He developed strong leadership abilities and also participated in National Youth Leadership Training.
Eli began spending his summers working at Camp No-Be-Bos-Co teaching merit badge classes in the nature center. Three years ago, Eli joined Troop 12 after his original Troop disbanded. With Troop 12 he served as quartermaster and undertook his Eagle Scout Service Project, a landscaping project at Edison Animal Shelter. Eli, along with many volunteers, installed a raised garden along the side of the building and refinished the two tables.
Eli is currently completing his senior year at Metuchen High School and plans to attend college after graduation to study fisheries and wildlife.
Akshay has been involved with Scouting since joining Cub Scouts as a Bear Cub with Pack 12 when he was in third grade. He went through the ranks of Cub Scouts and crossed over into Boy Scouts and joined Troop 12 after earning the Arrow of Light in 2010. He continued the friendships he made in Cub Scouts in his new Troop. Akshay became an outdoorsman by participating in countless weekend trips, district-wide camporees, hiking/backpacking treks and summer camp. He developed into a leader through Scouting and served as assistant senior patrol leader, Troop scribe and patrol leader. He also learned from many role models within the Troop.
Akshay undertook his Eagle Project at Washington Elementary School, where he renovated the blacktop by painting outlines for several games that the students play during recess. He wanted to give back to Washington Elementary School where the Troop holds their meetings. He is currently completing his junior year at Edison High School as an honor roll student in AP/honors classes and as a National Honor Society member. He is directing a play at his school, is an active Model United Nations member and volunteers as a tutor for the National Honor Society. He also is a part of Edison High’s volleyball and track and field teams.
Akshay currently takes college classes at Rutgers Business School’s PREP program and at Middlesex County College’s filmmaking program. He aspires to attend college after high school graduation and wants to earn majors in business and film studies.
Patrick has been involved in Scouting since first grade. He started off as a Tiger Cub in Pack 69 in Metuchen. Patrick joined Troop 216 along with several others from Pack 69. His first year of Scouting was amazing, looking up to older Scouts and learning the ropes. By the time the summer came around, the only thing any Scout could talk about was Camp No-Be-Bos-Co. Each boy had been to the camp before and spoke so highly of it, that Pat knew he needed to go. At camp he took swimming, nature, rowing and several more. When Patrick got home from camp, he was clearly in love with it. From this point on, No-Be was the highlight of the year.
When Troop 216 disbanded, Patrick joined Troop 12, where he became a patrol leader. In February 2014, he went to the North Jersey Council for a job interview and shortly after was invited to be a counselor-in-training at Camp No-Be-Bos-Co. When he went to No-Be for a pre-camp weekend, he was offered a position as a lifeguard and badge instructor. He chose to return again to the camp staff in 2015 and aspires to be an aquatics director this summer. At the start of this Scouting year, Patrick became the senior patrol leader of Troop 12. His Eagle Scout project consisted of mulching, cutting down plants and cleaning up the Thomas Edison Memorial site. When it was all finished, a walkway had also been laid down going up to the memorial. The project was a success.
Patrick is currently completing his senior year at Metuchen High School and aspires to earn a degree in the field of environmental science.
Liam is currently a senior at Metuchen High School, where he is a member of the National Honor Society, plays varsity soccer in the fall and runs track in the winter and spring. Sports have always been a big part of his life, starting out with trips to the park with his dad. Soccer has been an outlet for staying fit and finding new friends. Liam also met many new people in Scouting, which has been big part of his life since first grade, when he joined Cub Scouts.
Scouting has continued Liam’s interest in the natural world. His love of the outdoors has also led him to help restore the park trails as a volunteer with the Appalachian Mountain Club and as an employee of the Middlesex County Youth Conservation Corps. His Eagle Scout project was the planting of 19 native trees in a local park in Metuchen. Since they are in between tennis courts and a parking lot, the trees will make the area more aesthetically pleasing, and the evergreens he planted will eventually act as a sound barrier for the train tracks nearby.
Liam plans to major in engineering. He hopes to attend SUNY New Paltz in the fall of 2016.
