Troop72
Mike Flynn of Troop 72 received his Eagle Scout award and was honored
for that achievement in a ceremony on June 1st. Mike iknows how to
"get involved" in everything in which he participates. In scouting he has held
many leadership positions, from patrol quartermaster, to senior patrol leader
- at the top of the staff positions. Along the way, he participated in many training programs including Patrol
Leader Development, Troop Leader training at Silver Stag, Paddlerama Whitewater canoe training
(and race) and even snorkeling training.
In 2001 he participated in the troops high adventure canoe trip into the wilderness preserve of the Allagash river in main. This provided the backdrop for one of Mike's favorite scouting memories when he and another scout were were chased by a Moose.
The Moose first chased them up the river. When he gave up the chase, they thought they could drift by, trying not to disturb it. But they drifted too close and the moose burst from under the water and began to lean over the canoe, apparently ready to crush or flip them. A flash photo taken at that instant from another canoe seemed to stun the huge animal and gave them just enough time to make an escape.
Mike's Eagle project, where scouts do a deed of significance that will benefit their community, was clearing and blazing a trail on the Danenburg Property, a public park next to Conway field in Ardsley. He led a team of scouts to accomplish this and the team also cleaned the existing trails, as well as the creek bed of Sandy Run Creek, which runs through the Park. This project included over 130 hours of volunteer work.
Mike is not just busy with Scouts. At Abington Senior High, where he is finishing his senior year, he has been a trombone player in the Concert Band and Jazz Band , a member of the Science Club and a Science Olympiad participant. . He was a semi-finalist in the National Merit Scholarship program and is also a National Honor Society Member. He is already taking engineering courses at Penn State University, and has been accepted to the University of Central Florida where he has already received an award for achievement. He will be attending both the Burnett Honors College and the Mechanical and the Aerospace Engineering College there. For several years he was a member of the science club, and has participated in the statewide Science Olympiad. Mike is a charter member if the school's outdoors club and has acted as a volunteer wrestling coach for the junior high school. If all this were not enough he has also volunteered to be part of of the program that restored the historic battleship New Jersey and is active in his church, Queen of Peace, in Abington and has helped to renovate Father Fitzpatrick Hall at St Luke the Evangelist Church and has participated in various church fundraisers.
