WEST ORANGE, NJ — Truman Zachary Segal, of West Orange, has earned the highest advancement award the Boy Scouts of America offers to Scouts: the Eagle Scout Award. He joins other outstanding American citizens who have become Eagle Scouts, among them former President Gerald Ford, astronaut Neil Armstrong, movie director Steven Spielberg and Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
Eagle Scout is the highest rank in Scouting and is earned by less than 2.5 percent of all boys involved in Scouting. To earn the Eagle Scout rank, a Boy Scout must fulfill requirements in the area of leadership, community service and outdoor skills. Each candidate must earn 21 merit badges signifying the mastery of certain skills and successfully complete a community service project to earn his Eagle.
Truman Segal is the 71st Scout from West Orange Troop 2 to earn the rank of Eagle and is the son of Max and Victoria Segal.
Truman Segal began scouting as a Tiger Cub Scout in Pack 107 and after earning the Cub Scout Arrow of Light, he crossed over to Troop 2 in March 2012. His experiences in scouting include participation in the annual Cub Scout Pinewood Derby; numerous nights spent camping, hiking and canoeing; summer camp at Camp Wakpominee in the Adirondacks and Camp Turrell in New Jersey. He also participated in trips to Gettysburg, Pa.; Boston, Mass; and Washington, D.C. He participated in the 2013 and 2017 Boy Scout Jamboree in West Virginia, where in 2017 he served as the senior patrol leader of the troop.
Segal has served many leadership roles within the troop, including senior patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader, patrol leader, troop guide, den chief and most recently junior assistant Scout Master.
Truman’s Eagle project was to plan, build and distribute 25 bluebird boxes for the Essex County Environmental Center to place in the town’s golf course. Not only does this service project help save the bluebird population, but the bluebird’s natural pest control allows the center to reduce pesticides.
Segal has excelled outside of Scouts as well. He belongs to a half dozen honor societies, he’s been a Mountaineer Mentor and he was the only male student in his grade to be invited to Rotary Club Leadership Award conference. In high school, Segal was president of his school’s Screenwriters Society and A/V Club and was captain of the ultimate Frisbee team. As a black belt, he served as youth teacher for his taekwondo school and even was the leader for a rock and roll band he formed in middle school that has since broken up.
He is also passionate about roller coasters, having been on more than 400 different ones across North America. Segal was a junior juror for the Montclair Film Festival; he has won several awards at film festivals for his short films. He’s currently in his freshman year at Emerson College, studying visual and media arts, and hopes to bring his leadership skills acquired in Scouting to the table in his future filmic endeavors.
Troop 2 is sponsored by the BPOE Elks Lodge, 424 Main St. in West Orange, and meets Monday evenings from 7:30 to 9 p.m. during the school year. Any interested boy age 11 to 17 is welcome to stop by or visit www.westorange2.mytroop.us for information.
Photos Courtesy of Vincent Gonnella
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