March 1, 2020
Congratulations to Michael Krajniczyn, Giovanni La Vecchia, Eric and Jeffrey Modesitt for earning the rank of Eagle Scout. Their hard work and dedication was recognized during an official ceremony this Sunday March 1st 2020. They will join a group of other 79 Eagle Scouts from our troop who have also reached this honorable achievement.
February 24, 2020
Troop 5 welcomed 20 new scouts who crossed over this February. Troopmaster Denfeld greeted the new recruits with words of encoragement. Peter V., our troop SPL, conducted the meeting and shared a candle light which represents the scout spirit. The new scouts will work hard to keep the spirit alive. To our new recruits, Welcome!
November 2, 2019
Philmont here we come. Troop 5 has officially started its preparation for the Philmont Ranch 2020 epic adventure. The first hike of the season was a success. Scouts from Troop 5 enjoyed a gorgeous day and hiked approximately 7 miles of Harriman State Park trails. Everyone had a great time. Congratulations to those who participated. Great job!
July 27, 2018
Troop 5 had a very busy summer. In July, led by Crew Chief Giovanni La Vecchia, 11 Scouts and adult leaders adventured to the Chilkoot High Adventure base in Haines, Alaska. An amazing trip where the troop backpacked to beatiful British Columbia, whitewater rafted in the wild waters of the Yukon river, sea kayaked in the fjords around Haines and hiked in and around Juneau for a few days. Way to go Troop 5 and congratulations to those who participated. It’s time to look forward to our next high adventure which will be in 2020. Troop 5, get ready!
July 13, 2018
Jun. 27, 2018: On Monday, June 18, two members of Bronxville’s Boy Scout Troop 5 advanced to Eagle Scout, the highest rank possible in Boy Scouts, along with 14 other advancements.
A Court of Honor ceremony was held at The Reformed Church of Bronxville to recognize the journey each Scout has taken and to officially advance Kenny Taylor and Clay Layton to the rank of Eagle.
These two young men join a very elite group—only six percent of all Scouts achieve the rank of Eagle, according to Scouting magazine. Since Troop 5 was officially re-chartered in 1990 by Scoutmaster Ray Pfeister, 77 boys have achieved Eagle. This is a testimony to the strength and commitment of the boys, the adult leadership, and the parents of Troop 5. Becoming an Eagle Scout is a journey of commitment, learning, skill, and leadership. In Scouting, the path to Eagle typically begins at the age of ten or eleven, usually takes five to seven years to achieve, and must be completed before the age of eighteen. There are 325 requirements to become an Eagle Scout, including thirteen Eagle and nine elective merit badges, and completion of an Eagle Project.
The Eagle Project is a service project conceived of, planned, funded, organized, and executed under the leadership of the Eagle Scout candidate. An Eagle Scout service project can take months to plan and easily exceed 200 man-hours of work by groups of 20 or more volunteers managed by the Scout. As Joe Landy noted during his remarks on what it takes to become an Eagle Scout:
The Eagle Court of Honor was well attended by parents, friends, family members, troop members, and many other supporters of the advancing Scouts, including the past Troop 5 Scoutmaster, retired executive board member of the Boy Scouts of America and Silver Buffalo award recipient Joseph Landy. Mr. Landy praised the new Eagle Scouts on their achievement and encouraged them to live the Scout Law, show leadership in life, and continue to give back to their communities. As Mr. Landy administered the Eagle Scout Oath to the new Eagle Scouts for the first time, Kenny and Clay stood together with all attending Eagles.
Kenny Taylor‘s Eagle Project focused on blazing trails and creating a trail map in Sprain Ridge Park in Yonkers, a project that was conceived of while he rode his mountain bike in the park.
Clay Layton‘s project involved cleaning and organizing several food pantries at the CSA Soup Kitchen in Mount Vernon, a place where Clay had volunteered on numerous occasions to make and serve meals over his years in Boy Scout
A standard Court of Honor was also held on June 18, where fourteen Scouts achieved rank advancements. JP Denfeld, Eric Modesitt, and Jeffrey Modesitt advanced to Life Scout, Edward Phillips and James Rohr advanced to Star Scout, Hudson Schnier, Isaiah Weir, and Luke Stinga advanced to First Class Scout, Hunter Denfeld, Austin Lawless, Dev Tarwala, Will Tinson, and Toshi Odaira advanced to Second Class Scout, and Charlie Hodulik advanced to Tenderfoot Scout. In addition, 15 Merit Badges were awarded, including Citizenship in the Community and the World, Architecture, Music, Railroading, Emergency Preparedness, Family Life, Firem’n Chit, and Cooking among others. One Scout, Edward Phillips, completed the prestigious National Youth Leadership Training.
Andrew Mager, Jeffrey Modesitt, Eric Modesitt, and Michael Krajniczyn acted as masters of ceremony for the Court of Honor. Karsten Schnier was master of ceremony for the Eagle ceremony. Luke Stinga shared an opening prayer for both. It was announced that Scoutmaster Kevin Taylor is stepping down after five years of leading the troop, spurring a lengthy standing ovation. Jon Denfeld was named Scoutmaster.
Pictured at top: Eagle Scouts Kenny Taylor (L) and Clay Layton.
July 13, 2018
On June 22, 11 adults and 19 scouts set out for the Adirondack Lodge from scout field with the intention of summiting multiple peaks in upstate New York. The troop arrived on Friday afternoon, setting up their tents and preparing to hike the next morning. The weather was uncooperative to a high degree, making the campsites wet and muddy. Despite this, the next morning three groups departed from the camp. Two groups were heading for the summit of Mt. Marcy, the tallest peak in New York state at 5,433 feet. The other was heading for Mt. Phelps which reaches 4,161 feet.
The first group heading for Mt. Marcy was led by Vincent Lavechia and Jon Denfeld. It consisted solely of those previously heading for the Philmont backpacking trip in New Mexico (It has been shifted to Alaska because of fire-related dangers). They departed at approximately 5:45 A.M. hoping to complete the hike before the weather worsened. The second group was mainly senior scouts who were not going to Philmont. They left at 6:30 with similar goals. They were also accompanied by two former Troop 5 eagle scouts: Jack O’Neill and Anthony Crinieri, as well as their fathers, Jimmy O’Neill and Michael Crinieri. The final group departed at (please insert time) bound for a different peak, This time Mt. Phelps. Mt. Marcy was a 15 mile hike while the Phelps hike was 9 miles. The trek up Mt. Marcy was interesting topographically as the majority of the ascent was in the last mile. The rest of the path was relatively flat and sometimes even traveled down hill. About half a mile from the summit the tree cover faded, leaving nothing to shelter us from the wind and rain which grew stronger the closer we came to the summit.
Both trails were wet, muddy, and slippery. This especially posed a problem in descent when the slick rocks brought fear of slipping and falling. Fortunately, nobody was injured. All the groups eventually returned to the campground for a supper made by the scouts themselves. Some younger scouts even lit their own fire in an attempt to earn their Fir’man Chit, an award certifying scouts to carry fire-lighting devices such as matches and lighters as well as light camp or cooking fires. The next morning they had another scout-made breakfast and finished a mile-long hike around Heart Lake. Unfortunately they were forced to leave the campsite early Sunday afternoon due to difficulties with the weather.
Isaiah Weir
Troop 5 - Bronxville, NY 