COMMUNITY NEWS

Teen named N.Y.’s Eagle Scout of the Year

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Tim Messmer passed Bellmore Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2770’s hall on Bedford Avenue daily when he attended the nearby St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Regional School as a child. He didn’t know then that he would become well acquainted with the building by the time he turned 17, when he and volunteers that he led renovated the hall’s main room.

Messmer, 18, of Merrick, a member of Bellmore Boy Scout Troop 577, revamped the hall as his service project to attain the Eagle Scout rank, which he received on Jan. 27. Messmer took on the construction project, he said, to help those who have served the country –– men and women like his great-great-great-grandfather, who fought for the Union in the Civil War.

“My family history in the military goes way back, so I have a real appreciation for them,” he said. “I always want to do something for veterans.”

Messmer’s service project, which required 559 hours of planning and work and was completed last August, impressed county and state veterans’ organizations, and the American Legion Department of New York named him the 2014 Eagle Scout of the Year at its convention in Albany last month.

North Bellmore American Legion Post 1749 sponsors Troop 577. Frank Colon, the legion’s adjutant, noted that Messmer was the first Long Islander to receive the Eagle Scout of the Year honor. “That’s phenomenal,” Colon said. “We’ve never had a young man get this award –– not even when 577 was named the Troop of the Year in 2009.”

Messmer was initially judged at the legion’s county and district levels. He received top honors in Nassau and the 10th District, which comprises Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Charlie Kulins, who has been the Troop 577 scoutmaster for three years, said that a committee chose Messmer for the county award before he advanced to the district and state competitions. Kulins explained that the teen’s project, meeting attendance, participation and enthusiasm made him a strong candidate for the honor.

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