Two more young men in Verdugo Hills Council Boy Scout Troop 303, chartered with St. James Catholic Church in La Crescenta, recently received their Eagle Rank.

Wyatt Van Dyck and Ian Sternau shared their Court of Honor celebration on July 10 with Conor Uhlir from Troop 502 from the San Gabriel Valley Council.

Van Dyck was born May 3, 1993 to Jana and Dennis Van Dyck. He attended La Crescenta Christian Church Preschool, Mountain Avenue Elementary, Rosemont Middle and graduated from CV High School in June. During high school Wyatt joined Pilots, a leadership program at the Crescenta-Cañada YMCA, where he served as vice president.

While at Mountain Avenue, Wyatt became interested in Scouting. In the fall of 2004, he joined Troop 333 and when that troop disbanded, he moved to Troop 303. Van Dyck has held the positions of quartermaster, assistant patrol leader and instructor with his troops. His favorite times were at summer camp. He attended camps Whitsett, Chawanakee, Kern and Emerald Bay on Catalina Island and loved them all. His favorite Scouting activity is anything involving water whether small boat sailing, kayaking or swimming.

The Eagle project he chose was to rework the rock garden at St. James. The rock garden is a quiet place of prayer and meditation dedicated to Desi Geetsman. With help from his troop members, family and friends he removed all the rock and statuary, dug down about four inches over the entire area, installed weed tarp, reinstalled more rock, trimmed overgrown plants, reset the statuary and installed solar lights. Van Dyck made a special circle of rock with a ‘D’ in it, in memory of Desi. He completed his Eagle board of review in May 2011.

Van Dyck will attend Pasadena City College in the fall. He really feels that Scouting has taken him from boy to man and had a “blast” getting there.

Ian Michael Sternau was born April 20, 1993 to Patti and Mike Sternau. He attended St. James the Less Catholic Elementary School K-8. His Scouting career began in first grade as a Tiger Scout in Den 1 Pack 314 at St. James. He received his Arrow of Light as a Webelo Scout and joined Troop 303 in May 2004.

Throughout his elementary years, Sternau played AYSO soccer and CSA baseball and held positions in student council and was an altar server at St. James Church. He attended BSA summer camps at Lost Valley, Fiesta Island and Makualla in Oregon. Sternau served his Troop as patrol leader, den chief and instructor. Memorable Scouting backpack trips include treks across Catalina Island in 2007 and 2008 and Mount San Jacinto in 2009.

Sternau’s Eagle project was to relandscape an area at St. James. With the help of his troop, he replanted 12 flowerbeds, reworked part of the sprinkler system and replanted grass in an area formerly used by his Cub Scout Pack. He completed his Eagle board of review in April 2011.

During his high school years at St. Francis, he played four years of football, soccer and volleyball, continued AYSO soccer and was a link leader.  Sternau will attend Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, B.C. in the fall, where he will continue his football kicking career.

Both Scouts and their families thank all members of Troops 303 and 333 for their many years of dedication and support of Scouting in the Crescenta Valley. Special thanks go to Troop leadership including Jeff Welsh, Chuck Markley, Jim Bates, Bill Bell, Dave Decker, Greg Godwin, Robert Jarnot, Terry Linvill, Dave Ringel, Sabrina Sanchez, Doug Sandmeyer, Russ Sugimura, Anders Troedsson, Don Wright, Commissioner Harriet Hammons and Fr. Ed Dover, pastor of St. James Church.

For more information, visit www.troop303.org.