Hard work, persistence lead to Eagle Scout honor
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
By DAVID BERGENGREN
dbergengren@repub.com

AGAWAM - Boy Scout Troop 82, affiliated with the Agawam Congregational Church, is turning out approximately one Eagle Scout a year.

"We've been in existence 48 years, and we have 47 Eagles, so we're averaging about one a year," Scoutmaster Mark S. McLaughlin said at a Nov. 16 ceremony at the church honoring the troop's most recent Eagle Scout, Alex M. Kwatowski, of Westfield.

"Less than 5 percent of all Scouts who join Scouting ever make it to Eagle," McLaughlin said. "It's an exclusive club."

"Obtaining the rank of Eagle is a tough thing," he said. "They have to invest the time. They have to invest the effort, (and) they have to learn a lot of skills along the way."

Kwatowski, 18, acknowledged a lot of his motivation came from the support of others, particularly his father Martin J. Kwatowski.

"I probably would've quit a long time ago if I hadn't had people there to push me along," he said.

Alex Kwatowski, a senior at Westfield High School, credits Scouting and its aquatic training with helping him get his first job as a life-guard and swimming instructor at the Westfield YMCA.

A minimum of 21 merit badges - some required and others optional - are needed to qualify to become an Eagle Scout. Kwatowski, who hopes college will lead him to a career as a veterinarian, earned 48 merit badges.

He put his love of animals to use in his Eagle Scout project, helping Thomas P. Ricardi, of Conway, with his nonprofit shelter for injured birds of prey such as eagles, falcons, hawks and owls.

"He did all the dirty work," Ricardi said of Alex Kwatowski. "He repaired a lot of cages that were in need of repair, did a lot of painting, trimmed trees."

"He did an excellent job," Ricardi said. "He was exceptional."

Saying she was very proud of her son, Lisa J. Kwatowski credited her husband, Alex's father, with providing the needed spark of motivation.

"He's just spent 20 years raising his sons to become Eagles," she said, referring to Alex and his brother Eric J. Kwatowski, 24, of Springfield, who became an Eagle Scout at age 18 in 2002.

"I didn't make Eagle (when I was a Boy Scout)," said Martin Kwatowski, "so that was one of the promises I made myself, that if I had boys, I'd make them Eagles."

Saying he was "ecstatic" to have two sons who are now Eagle Scouts, Martin Kwatowski said, "Words don't describe it. It's just a father's dream, to have two boys as Eagles."

Alex's grandmother, Rena J. Stuart, of Ludlow, said of the family's latest Eagle Scout, "I am so proud of him. It was very difficult for him, with his active life, to complete this, with going to school and working, too."

On having two grandsons make eagle, Stuart said, "Am I lucky or what?"

Eric Kwatowski, who has a 4-year-old son Matthew, praised his brother for achieving the rank of Eagle. "I'm proud of him," he said. "He worked hard. It's not easy."