SWHS grad earns Eagle Scout

Award with ambitious projects

BY LILLIAN R. HANDLEMAN

ReminderNews

Amidst the negative publicity that sometimes surrounds the ste­reotype of today's youth, there are still exceptional teens who devote most of their lives to striving toward excellence. One example is Kevin Mack, a recent South Windsor High School graduate of the Class of 2008, who was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout on May 28. The designation is the Boy Scouts of America's highest honor, representing the gold standard of leadership and com­munity service.

Mack's scouting tenure began as a Tiger Cub, when he was in the third grade. Eventually, he advanced through the ranks of Boy Scout Troop 186, from Tiger Cub coach and troop guide, to assistant Sr. patrol leader, under the leadership of Boy Scout Master Randy Olson and As­sistant Scout Masters Brian Hosig, Steve Leslie and his father, Mike.

Last year, Mack served as a volunteer coordinator to help engineer a dirty bomb simulation drill, designed to help regional hospitals react to potential di­saster. "We even had an ambulance come to the site [between Hartford Hospital and the Connecticut Children's Medical Center] to determine how long it would take to get to and from the site," he said.

Mack's camping experiences included the June Norcross Webster Camp in Ash­ford, which enabled him to take classes to earn some of the 21 required merit badg­es. "I took canoeing, climbing, archery, rowing, life-saving, finger-printing, bas­ketry, leather working, environmental science and astronom^y." he said.

But what Mack calls his "favorite life-changing experience" and one he is most proud of was a challenging trek in the vast Philmont Scout Reservation in the northeast corner of New Mexico, where an elite group of Scouts were chosen for 12 days of arduous, outdoor activity dur­ing a drought. "We had to take water out of the ground and purify it," Mack said. The venture began with white-water riv­er rafting in Colorado and continued with an exhausting 115-mile hike that in­cluded climbing Mt. Baldy, a 13,000-foot peak in the Cimarron Range Mountains of New Mexico. "This was the Mecca of Scouting," said Mack. "It's the biggest and best of high adventure."

Mack also described a "mentally and emotionally grueling" 6-mile hike through deep mountain valleys where he and others thought about giving up. "We got each other through it... we were fam­ily out there," he said.

Mack's years of intensive Scout train­ing culminated in his community service project to build a 5-foot wildlife viewing blind inside South Windsor's Major Mi­chael Donnelly Land Preserve. The site was in the middle of a wetland swamp, which required first pre-cutting the wood and building a platform. "There was standing water and reeds, so we had to drive the posts into the marsh area... and be sure the foundation was below the frost line," he said, acknowledging help from troop members, friends and his fa­ther. "You can look out [from inside] and see the wildlife without disturbing it," he said.

The Eagle Award ceremony was held at Philip R. Smith Elementary School, where Mack was presented with awards and citations. A proclamation by Mayor Matthew Streeter thanked Mack for his contributions on behalf of the town of South Windsor and commended him for earning the Scouts' highest honor. Scout Master Randy Olson presented the Eagle Scout Award.

Mack, who participated annually in the food drive for the South Windsor Community Center, graduated from South Windsor High School last month, plans to start college at Manchester Community College and eventually hopes to pursue an environmental career, possibly as a park or forest ranger. "If I hadn't joined Scouting, I never would have considered that as a career choice," he said.