Maplewood Scouts Earn Prestigious Eagle Rank With Community Projects

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Troop 5 Maplewood recently announced that four of its scouts have earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest honor in Scouting America.

According to a news release from Troop 5, the four scouts who achieved the rank of Eagle Scout and their projects are:

RESTORED MEMORIALS – Rome Stefan Brachfeld, of Maplewood, a 2024 graduate of Oratory Preparatory School and second-year Business Economics student at UCLA, who partnered with the South Orange Department of Public Works in 2024 to clean and restore memorials across South Orange, including the obelisk in Founders Park, which honors the townships’ founding families, and the Veterans Memorial Rock in Meadowland Park, which honors those who gave their lives in war.

ANIMAL SHELTER SHADE CANOPIES – Quinn Miller of West Orange, a senior at Newark Academy, who partnered with St. Hubert's Animal Wellness Center in Madison during the summer of 2025 to install three permanent large sun shade canopies over their outdoor play yards to benefit both animals and volunteers.

BOOK SWAP BOXES – August Jacob Macqueen Pross of South Orange, who goes by Jacob, a 2024 graduate of Columbia High School and rising junior studying Business at The University of Toronto, who worked with the South Orange Public Library in 2023 to construct and install four book swap boxes on residential streets in the South Orange Maplewood community.

COURTYARD RENOVATION – Lucas Rui Quinteros of South Orange, a senior at Newark Academy, who renovated and repurposed an underused space in the Newark Academy courtyard in Livingston in the summer of 2025.

To achieve the Eagle Award, each scout must advance through the six ranks of Scouting America: Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star and Life. During the years of learning and advancement required to ascend to the rank of Eagle, scouts must earn a minimum of 21 merit badges in areas like outdoor skills, citizenship, and life skills.

They must also propose, design and implement a community service project, which is designed to help Scouts develop essential life skills such as project management, leadership and perseverance.

Scouts organize and oversee volunteers from the troop and broader community to complete the project, and they conduct fundraising where needed to purchase supplies.

The local scouts were honored during ceremony at Morrow Memorial United Methodist Church, with family, friends and community leaders in attendance.

Speakers at the ceremony included Chris Birardi from the Lenni Lenape District of Northern New Jersey Council, Noah Miller from the Maplewood Rotary Club, Troop 5’s local sponsor, who also presented the Eagle Scouts with a wooden keepsake box to store their Scouting America merit badges and memorabilia, as well as Maplewood Mayor Victor De Luca, Councilwoman Jane Collins-Colding, and Deputy Mayor Malia Herman.

“Coming to an event like this is such an honor, meeting the next generation of leaders in our community,” Herman said before each Eagle Scout received a proclamation from the Maplewood Township Committee.

Each new Eagle Scout also received letters of commemoration from Gov. Mikie Sherrill, U.S. Rep. Analilia Mejia and South Orange Mayor Sheena Collum.

“You are among a select few who have achieved this award, exhibiting the characteristics of initiative, courage, resourcefulness and leadership,” Sherrill wrote.

“Dedicating your time to a project that benefits your community is distinctly representative of the Boy Scout philosophy,” Mejia encouraged. “I hope you proudly carry the skills and lessons learned in the Boy Scouts with you your entire life: there is no doubt they will help you to continue to find ways to serve others.”

Collum said each scout “serves as an example to youth through [their] high level of personal achievement, ambition, leadership, and community service.”

Each new Eagle Scout gave remarks at the end of the ceremony, reflecting on their time in both Scouting America and with Troop 5 working for several years toward the rank of Eagle Scout. All mentioned the lifelong friends and memories they made, especially at Massawepie Scout Camp each summer in the Adirondacks, the two-week high adventure backpacking trip at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, and monthly camping outings like the annual Troop 5 cooking competition.

Each youth said scouting will stay with them throughout their lives.

“Looking back at my time in Troop 5 has shown me how much my friends and I have grown,” Miller said. “It’s surreal to remember being 11-years-old and watching the older Scouts earn their Eagle while I was stuck on the Tenderfoot fitness requirement, and now, to finally be here, having run that same mile over and over to encourage the next generation of Scouts.”

“I got my first taste of leading, and I learned how helpful it was to encourage and be encouraged by my peers,” Quinteros said. “There are many connections, moments, and triumphs that will stay with me. I’m glad I’ve been part of it.”

“[Scouting] is not just about badges, camping, or checking off requirements – it’s about seeing a problem, stepping up and helping people even when you’re tired and would rather be climbing a mountain,” Brachfeld said.

“That is probably the biggest thing Scouting has taught me,” Brachfeld said. “Leadership is not always dramatic. Sometimes it is just doing the next right thing.”

“Looking back, I believe that all of these [Scouting] experiences have definitely made me a better person,” Pross said. “When I’m helping others, I remember how older scouts helped me when I was starting out in Troop 5, and how much that meant to me. I can confidently say that the core principles of scouting still very much apply to my daily life.”

Troop meetings are held Thursdays from 7 to 9 p.m. during the school year at Seth Boyden Elementary School. For more information, email info@troop5.us or visit www.troop5.us.

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