submitted by Susan Brissette
Seven girls from Junior Troop 1120 of Stephentown, Libby Cass, Nicole Cure, Lacey D’Alessio, Katie Gallucci, Kaitlin Goodermote, Schyler Haita and Anna Prescott, earned the highest honor in Junior Girl Scouting, the Bronze Award, by devoting over 200 hours to a bald eagle project in conjunction with Berkshire Bird Paradise in Grafton. Berkshire Bird Paradise is home to 16 permanently injured bald eagles and golden eagles.
The girls chose this project after meeting with Pete Dubacher, sanctuary director, and learning about the eagles in residence there. They came away from their exploration of the sanctuary with the belief that bald eagles are true heroes and so is Pete Dubacher, their protector. They vowed to help Dubacher in his efforts to educate people about the need to protect bald eagles as well as to publicize the sanctuary’s highly successful eagle captive breeding program.
After earning many preliminary badges and patches and spending many volunteer hours working at the sanctuary, these Junior Scouts designed, researched and installed an educational display about bald eagles at the eagle habitat. They developed informational displays about the habits of bald eagles, their many uses as an American symbol, their decline due to habitat destruction and pesticide use, national recovery efforts and successful breeding programs.
The girls also discovered that their eagle friends had extraordinary personal histories which they wrote about in a “bird bio” exhibit. One of the sanctuary’s residents, Zipper, came from Alaska where he had been attacked by a grizzly bear and was carried to a rehab center, zipped in a backpack. Another, who was a victim of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, has been at the sanctuary over 20 years and in recent years successfully hatched an eaglet that was released into the wild.
The Scouts received their Bronze Award pins at a special ceremony at Berkshire Bird Paradise, with bald eagles watching the proceedings. Leaders Debi Gallucci and Sue Cass congratulated the girls for their dedication and commitment to our national symbol, the American Bald Eagle. All seven girls have now bridged to become Cadette Girl Scouts and are eager to continue their adventures, travel and community service.