On Sunday, as Pound Ridge 18 year old Louis Boguchwal made his acceptance speech for the badge of Eagle Scout, thunder from above ominously sounded in the old Pound Ridge church. Being prepared the way a good scout should be, he took the moment in stride and later deflected any indication of a negative omen. "It was like going out with a bang," he said, and will probably lead up to even bigger bangs in the future, he added.
First looking back, he earned his wings with a project that will impact the school he is leaving behind for some time
to come. Before Louis set his sights on the backwoods behind the high school, the cross country track team he was part of ran without the benefit of a home course. He planned and executed a 5.2 mile scenic loop that does justice to the eyes and limits the incidence of shin splints to the marathoners and those still stubbornly wedded to the cement.As best he tried, he couldn't match Fox Lane to the mountains of New Mexico or Upstate New York and he prefers the challenge of nature to the typical teenage fair that also falls short. "A party is more reserved compared to a good hike site and you're not really part of anything," he says of simple mingling.
And being part of something inspires an attitude in him that views burdens for others as opportunities for himself. "Do a good turn daily and do as many as you can," he said of the chance to serve those in need.
On the other hand, he knows how to mix a little teenage in with his good character and isn't always, as they say, "such a boy scout." Biology teacher, Dr. Hillary Dowling happily recounted how Louis came dressed to a school Halloween party as a boxed
birthday present. "God's gift to women," she remembered the tongue and cheek card attached to his outfit.Of course, just as importantly she pointed out from the podium his tenacious approach to learning. Not simply interested in grades, he had an unflaling determination to learn with a curiosity that was unbounded. "He's one of those students that we teachers hope and pray for," she said.
Fellow teacher Fred Nuemann could concur on that. Immediately finding a commonality in a love of the outdoors, he praised Louis' determination. "A large amount of work doesn't scare him," he said, while crediting Louis' make up to the collective influence of his parents, his faith and the scouts.
It all works in the face of adversity also. Hiking at 10,000 feet in the New Mexico wilderness, Troop One leader Harvey Dann recalled how Louis kept cool in the face of torrential rains. "Louis stayed calm throughout," he said and provided the example to others that is central to the scouting mantra.
Still, he might be a little shy about getting on a bicycle, according to Mr. Dann. "He had never ridden before," he said, and always declined an annual adventure out in Cape Code because of the bicycling aspect. That is until this year and a good number of falls.
He should be up for it next year along with a future that can be foreseen by the past and the present, according to his Mother. "He's a boy of integrity who never cuts corners and will have much success," she concluded proudly.
