SWAMPSCOTT — A new plaque installed inside Town Hall is aiming to bring more visibility to Swampscott’s Eagle Scouts and Girl Scout Gold Award recipients.
The display, which will be mounted just inside the building’s entrance, lists the names of about 160 Swampscott residents who have earned scouting’s highest rank, with space left to continue adding future honorees. For Select Board member MaryEllen Fletcher, the project was about recognizing a level of commitment that doesn’t always get public attention.
“We were just trying to find ways to celebrate people,” Fletcher said. “I think all the scouts make such a big impact in the town, and they’re pretty quiet about it.”
The idea, she said, was relatively simple: create something permanent that residents would see as they walked into Town Hall, a reminder of the contributions made by generations of local scouts. But turning that idea into a finished plaque took time, particularly when it came to assembling the names.
Fletcher said local scouting organizations — through their leaders and historical records — helped track down Eagle Scouts dating to 1925. That list was compiled over about five months by Swampscott’s local troops, resulting in more than 100 years of scouting accomplishment.
Fletcher said that the plaque itself took a while to put together, and was paid for from the Select Board’s annual budget as a way to honor the scout’s commitment to the town.
Each scout who has earned the achievement has an engraved plate on the plaque. Fletcher made particular note that Evan Segal of the Swampscott Department of Public Works was among the town’s historic scouts. Segal attended a recent Select Board meeting where today’s local troop members read out the names of all those honored on the plaque.
“It’s a pretty serious thing, so it’s just a way to recognize the service that these young people do and the dedication they put into it,” Fletcher said.
Now going into place, the plaque includes all available names, with only a couple free spaces remaining. Fletcher said the town expects to add another panel in the future so that the recognition can continue as more scouts reach the Eagle rank.
Included on the plaque is Adrian LaPlante, Swampscott’s newest Eagle Scout, who was recognized by the Select Board earlier in April. He joins the long list of local scouts whose names are now part of the historic display.
Fletcher said she hopes the plaque serves not only as a historical record, but also as encouragement for younger scouts working their way through the program.
“It might be an incentive,” she said. “They get to (their) teenage years, and they might think, ‘Oh, is it worth it?’… If it can help keep them motivated, that’s the goal.”
Placed where residents will pass it every day, the plaque is meant to ensure that the work behind those names — service projects, years of commitment, and leadership — is a little harder to miss.
