Honoring an Eagle

Selectmen give a special salute to Emmitt Lozano, an 18-year-old Saugus boy, for achieving scouting’s top rank

By Mark E. Vogler

SAUGUS – Emmitt Lozano, the most recent Boy Scout from Saugus to earn the Eagle Scout badge, was the main event at Tuesday night’s Board of Selectmen’s meeting. Joined by his parents – Jackie Russo and Jose Lozano – and his scoutmaster, Richard E. Bucko of Lynn Troop 34, the 18-year-old Northeast Metro Tech senior received a hero’s welcome in the second floor auditorium of Town Hall.

“You’re an asset to our community,” Selectman Michael Serino told Emmitt before the board presented him with a citation commending him for achieving scouting’s highest honor – an honor bestowed upon just four to six percent of all Boy Scouts of America since the organization’s inception in 1911.

“It’s an honor to meet you and participate in your ceremony,” Serino said, noting that only a small percentage of scouts ever make Eagle.

Selectmen Corinne Riley told Emmitt that “it takes a lot of work and a lot of dedication” to become an Eagle Scout.

“Great job! It’s a herculean effort – one that we don’t take lightly,” Selectman Jeffrey Cicolini said.

“You’re a special group of individuals. You show dedication to see it through to the end. You’re going to do great things,” he said.

Selectman Anthony Cogliano thanked the scout for his hard work and wished him “the best of luck in your future.”

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.

A landscape beautification project

Emmitt’s final step on the road to becoming an Eagle Scout was a public service project that he planned, organized and supervised. 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 enjoy the area.

“For the project, we cleaned up the area by raking leaves and remodeling the flowerbed,” Emmitt said in an interview this week.

“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. 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 Bucko told selectmen “He’s a great young man.”

“You should be glad to have him in Saugus,” Bucko said.

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