Scout projects enhance Allentown community
Teens give Horse Park and Heritage Park new features
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

Allentown Boy Scouts Tom Erni (l-r), Dan DiRocco and Jackson Hoover celebrate their advancement to the Eagle Scout rank.

ALLENTOWN - Three local Scouts are soaring like eagles this summer.

Classmates Jackson Hoover, Dan DiRocco and Tom Erni, of Boy Scout Troop 180, can now rest easier than they have been able to for quite some time. Not only did they graduate from Allentown High School June 20, but they were also honored with the rank of Eagle Scout at the troop's spring Court of Honor held June 5 at the Allentown Presbyterian Church.

To become an Eagle Scout, each Scout had to complete numerous hours of work on a community service project. They had to earn successive ranks by demonstrating proficient outdoor skills, earning merit badges in a variety of areas that included communication, citizenship, personal fitness and family life, and performing regular community service. They also had to display significant leadership skills by planning, organizing and leading a service project to benefit a church, school, public organization or the community at large.

Hoover's Eagle project benefited the local horse community. The Horse Park of New Jersey, located in Upper Freehold, needed a solution to having announcements randomly posted on the facility's buildings, and Hoover provided one.

With the help of his troop, Hoover designed and built a kiosk with a shingled roof and a brick patio where Horse Park attendees could post their announcements. The kiosk has helped keep the park, which is a premier site for equine shows and competitions, cleaner.

Hoover has been an active member of Troop 180 since 2000 and has participated in a variety of events, activities and community service projects throughout his membership. He volunteered at the New Jersey Special Olympics, participated yearly in community and park cleanups, placed flags on veterans' graves for Memorial Day and helped with building projects at Allentown's Handicapped High Riders Club, cemetery and Farmer Park.

During the time he spent with the troop, he attended camps at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and West Point in New York. He also attended the National Boy Scout Jamboree, earned the Boy Scouts of America Lifeguard Award and the 50-Miler Award for canoeing the 100-mile Allagash Wilderness Waterway in Maine and building a stone fire-ring for future travelers to the remote canoe destination.

In the fall, Hoover will attend The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Pomona section of Galloway.

Erni and DiRocco were among five Scouts who joined Troop 180 when Troop 624, of St. John's Parish in Allentown, disbanded upon the retirement of Scoutmaster Philip Pagliaro.

DiRocco joined Troop 624 at St. John's Church in Allentown in 2001. His Eagle Project benefited Heritage Park in Allentown where he planned and supervised the planting of 14 shade trees and perennial flowers. Princeton Nurseries donated the trees, which were planted in pairs at strategic locations along the park's walking path and near its ball-playing area. The trees were positioned to allow for the installation of benches between them, which is another Troop 624 Eagle Project.

Ron Dunster, who heads Allentown's Recreation Committee, of Allentown, and George Wilhelm, of Troop 180, helped DiRocco successfully complete his project and apply for Eagle Scout status. DiRocco also commended many fellow Scouts from Troop 624 and Troop 180, as well as their fathers and friends, all of whom showed up for the long day in May to dig and plant at the park.

DiRocco also had to organize volunteers to transport water to the trees throughout the dry summer months. The trees and other plantings survived and are expected to grace the park for decades to come.

During his years as a member of Troop 624, DiRocco participated in many service projects, including town cleanups, the Relay for Life of New Egypt in Plumsted, Allentown's Memorial Day parade and shoveling snow for elderly homebound neighbors after severe snowfalls.

His favorite activity in scouting was overnight camping, which he enjoyed on many of Troop 624's excursions, both locally and farther afield. DiRocco plans to continue enjoying mountain, forest and beach parks as an adult Scout.

DiRocco was the varsity captain for the cross-country and winter and spring track teams during his senior year at Allentown High School. He is also a percussionist and plays drums in a rock band with several of his friends. He is also looking forward to beginning his college studies at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey this fall.

Erni has been involved in scouting in Troop 624 since 2001. His Eagle Project also benefited Heritage Park and those who go there.

He led a project to finish, paint and install birdhouses in the park to encourage bird life to thrive there. His aim was two-fold in that the birds would provide enjoyment to park-goers while also reducing the mosquito and gnat populations at the park, which are potentially dangerous and annoying to visitors.

The N.J. Department of Corrections donated the birdhouses for the project. Erni oversaw the enhancement of the birdhouses and had fellow scouts help reinforce them to ensure stability, paint them to seal them for winter, map out locations for them in the park, and direct their installation.

Dunster and a former assistant scoutmaster of Troop 624 helped Erni with his project, as did other Scouts and their fathers and friends.

DiRocco credits his Eagle Project with helping him develop the discipline he needs to focus on important goals and the organizational skills to complete important activities on time.

During his years as a Scout, DiRocco participated in many service projects, such as cleanups of Main Street in Allentown and the Relay for Life of New Egypt. He also attended summer camp at Camp Kittatinny, which is located on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River. He was active in the marching, concert and jazz bands at Allentown High School and also enjoys playing rock music with friends outside of school. In addition, he was an altar server at St. Vincent De Paul Church in Yardville.

DiRocco will start college in the fall at Mercer County Community College, West Windsor, where he began studying music theory as a high school student. He plans to major in music there and then move on to a four-year school.