Local teens earn Eagle Scout ranking

Five members of Jet Propulsion Laboratory Boy Scout Troop 509 were recently feted at a Court of Honor in February after having achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.

Ethan Angold, Henry Bley, Ian de Moura, Hunter Farrington and Grant McComb were honored on Feb. 6 in Von Karman Auditorium at JPL. Dr. Martin Kast, Troop 509’s Scoutmaster, presided at the event.

Established in 1952, the JPL troop is known for its many outdoor activities and its many Scouts who have earned the Eagle rank. The number of Scouts in the troop is typically around 80, about half from La Cañada and half from Pasadena, Glendale and other communities east to Glendora. The troop is in the San Gabriel Valley Council, Rose Bowl District, of the Boy Scouts of America.

Ethan Angold, 17, a senior at La Cañada High School, earned 26 merit badges to receive the Eagle Scout award. For his Eagle Project, Ethan built a retaining wall for the Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley. This nonprofit organization is dedicated to the understanding, preservation and use of California native flora. The wall converts previously unusable hillside into a space for propagating plants.

Also a senior at LCHS, Henry Bley, 18, earned 24 merit badges. For his Eagle Scout Project, he worked with Door of Hope Pasadena, a transitional home for families dealing with abuse or homelessness. For his project, Henry built shelves for a shed that was used to store supplies used for maintenance of the house and to store household goods. Thanks to the support of his family, friends, and fellow members of Troop 509, Henry was able to carry out the project over a two-day period, during which he built and installed the shelves.

Ian de Moura, 18, a senior at Eagle Rock High School, earned 30 merit badges to receive the Eagle Scout award. His Eagle Scout Project was for the Women’s Twentieth Century Club. His project transformed an unsightly curbside plot of dirt into an irrigated succulent garden. His most memorable service project was at Camp Trask to earn the Fifty Miler award. In order to preserve native plants, he weeded out invasive species along the river during a torrential downpour.

Hunter Farrington, 18, a senior at LCHS, earned 27 merit badges. His Eagle Scout project enabled him to utilize his love for filmmaking by creating an electronic press kit for the Child Educational Center in La Cañada. He wrote, directed and edited a video so the CEC would be able to use it for creating awareness of their organization’s mission and core values. He spent 90 hours on the project and the crew he led spent 52, a total of 142 hours.

Grant McComb has been a member of Troop 509 since the age of 14. After joining, he ascended the ranks and jumped into troop leadership serving as a patrol leader, which he guided to earn the National Patrol Honor Award, a troop first. Apart from scouting, he started an environmental organization called One Planet One Chance (OPOC), and that has played an active roll in defending California wildlife. He also writes on environmental and other topics, using this form of communication to share his ideas, stories and beliefs.