An early “Earth Day” project helped a Saugus teenager earn his Eagle Scout Badge

By Mark E. Vogler

Anyone who enjoyed the beauty of Prankers Pond this spring benefited from a public service project that enabled 18-year-old Emmitt Lozano to earn his Eagle Scout Badge. It was a project that Emmitt planned, organized and supervised last fall. He completed a landscape beautification project at the Prankers Pond welcome memorial. His goal for this project was to make Prankers Pond a more welcoming and friendly environment for people who want to go enjoy the area.

“For the project, we cleaned up the area by raking leaves and remodeling the flowerbed,” Emmitt said in an interview earlier this year, after the Saugus Board of Selectmen honored him with a citation that recognized his personal accomplishment of earning the Eagle Scout Badge – Scouting’s highest honor.

He earned the rank of Eagle over the winter as a member of Lynn Boy Scout Troop 34.

“The welcome sign was also rebuilt and repainted as well. The memorial stone was also washed, too. I funded this project through a GoFundMe that I created,” Emmitt said.

“The volunteers for the project were composed of my friends from my school as well as members of my troop,” he said.

Emmitt is a standout student at The Voke in Wakefield, where he is a member of the National Honor Society and National Technical Honor Society.

“In school my trade shop is drafting and design where we learn architectural and engineering drafting,” he said.

“After High school, I plan to go to college to study architecture. I haven’t fully committed to one school yet, but I plan on staying in the Boston area,” he said.

The lifelong Saugus resident is the fifth member of his family to earn the Eagle Scout Badge. Four of his cousins achieved that honor previously. He has spent a dozen years in scouting, beginning in the first grade. He was required to earn 21 merit badges to make Eagle.

“For me, being an Eagle Scout means that I have achieved my goal in scouting of learning how to use the tools scouting has taught me,” Emmitt said.

“With these tools I can apply them to be a better version of myself and learn how to be a positive member of my community,” he said.

Troop 34 Scoutmaster Richard Bucko praised Emmitt as “a great young man.” “You should be glad to have him in Saugus,” Bucko said.

Board of Selectmen Chair Debra Panetta recalled that her son got his Eagle Scout Badge about 10 years ago, noting that it helped him find his first job and also apply to colleges. “This will stay on your resume forever,” Panetta told Emmitt.

“It is a significant accomplishment. I’m sure your parents are incredibly proud of you as well as your scoutmaster and all of us Saugonians. We appreciate the work you did at Prankers Pond,” she said.