Along the Scouting Trails

Four local youths earn Eagle rank

Aaron Broberg, Jonathan Malmrose, Porter Bent Hansen and Samuel Clark will be presented at a Court of Honor at 5:30 p.m. March 21 at the LDS Church building at 4550 Raymond Ave., La Crecenta.

Broberg, a 14-year-old eighth-grader at La Cañada High 7/8, has earned the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. He is a member of Troop 398, associated with the La Cañada Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Broberg has served as Senior Patrol Leader, has camped in excess of 30 nights, and has earned 30 merit badges. He has camped in the Sierras, the San Gabriel Mountains, Camp Cherry Valley, and at Camp Steiner at 10,000-foot elevation in Utah’s Uintah Mountains, where he participated in rock climbing.

For his Eagle project, Broberg led a group of about 20 scouts and 10 adults in clearing and constructing an area for home-team fans to sit at the LDS Church La Cañada baseball field next to the Mayor’s Park. Aaron thought of this Eagle Project while watching his younger brothers play baseball on that field, recognizing the lack of room for the fans.

Malmrose, a 15 year-old sophomore at Crescenta Valley High School, has achieved the rank of Eagle Scout of the Boy Scouts of America. He is a member of Troop 391 of the Verdugo Hills Council, sponsored by the Verdugo Hills Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

He started his scouting career in Pack 391 earning his Arrow of Light prior to joining Troop 391. He has served as Troop Bugler, Assistant Patrol Leader and Senior Patrol Leader.

His scouting adventures include summer camps at Camp Whitsett, Circle-X, and Cherry Valley. In qualifying for Eagle, Jonathan earned 34 merit badges and recorded over 30 nights camping. In addition to Eagle, Jonathan has earned Bronze and Gold Eagle Palms.

Malmrose’s Eagle Scout project consisted of installing shelving at Lincoln Elementary School’s equipment shed, clay, and band rooms. He played trumpet in Lincoln’s orchestra and wanted to give back to the program. He worked with music director Mrs. Hayhurst, on shelving to help organize musical instruments and supplies neatly on shelves rather than piling them on the floor.

Malmrose was on Crescenta Valley’s Freshman Baseball team in 2009, and the Junior Varsity Water Polo team in 2008 and 2009. He is now on the Crescenta Valley Falcon JV swim team. He also enjoys singing in the Crescenta Valley High School Chamber Choir.

He continues living the scout spirit having contributed over 50 service hours toward achieving the Crescenta Valley High School’s service award.

Hansen is a freshman at Crescenta Valley High School, where he is involved in the football and baseball programs. During his scouting career, Porter has spent over 65 nights camping and has hiked over 200 miles. During the summer, he attended Philmont Scout Ranch, where he spent two weeks hiking the rugged terrain of Northern New Mexico.

In order to obtain the rank of Eagle Scout, Porter enlisted the help of leaders and fellow scouts to collect donations of 1000 toothbrushes, tubes of toothpaste and packets of dental floss from local dentists. These were put into Ziploc baggies together with instructions for use (in Spanish) to form dental hygiene kits. Porter then accompanied students and faculty of USC Dental School to Costa Rica, where the students held free dental clinics for underprivileged children and adults. Porter handed out the hygiene kits to school children ages 3 to 11. He also assisted the USC students by applying a fluoride treatment to each child’s teeth and he taught the children the proper way to brush. It was thrilling to see the way the service of so many helped to improve the lives of the grateful Costa Rican people.

Clark, of Boy Scout Troop 391, will receive his Eagle Scout award at Sunday’s court of honor. For his Eagle project Sam renovated a hallway at Lincoln Elementary School.

During the three-day project, Clark coordinated the effort of 40 volunteers who donated more than 140 hours to clean and paint outdoor classroom walls, hang new classroom bulletin boards and plant new pots for each classroom door.