Local Boy Scouts wind down busy summer

The heroic efforts of a local Eagle Scout have earned him a Boy Scout Medal of Honor. 

On Jan. 30, 16-year-old Jack Dailey, a member of Riverdale’s Boy Scout Troop 240,  smelled smoke in the hallway of his family’s apartment on West 240th Street. After going door to door to find the source, he discovered smoke billowing from a neighbor’s apartment, occupied by a 76-year-old woman and her two-year-old great-grandson. 

“I was in such shock. I didn’t fully understand yet that it was my building on fire,” Jack told The Press in January. “You hear about these things, but you never really think what you would do.”

After calling 911, Jack held his 2-year-old neighbor as he waited with the baby’s great-grandmother and several other neighbors on the seventh-floor fire escape, until firefighters were able to help them down. 

“He was fantastic,” Jack’s neighbor, Patrick Greene, said after the incident. “That kid was helping people out. I’m very impressed with him.” 

Jack is set to receive his honor from the Greater New York Council of the Boy Scouts of America on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 4:30 p.m. at the Ernst & Young Building in Manhattan. 

On June 14, he and three of his fellow scouts, Charles Bryce-Ramirez, Kevin Bhat and Peter Gunn, were elevated to the rank of Eagle Scout. To achieve this, Boy Scouts must earn a minimum of 21 merit badges and perform a service project in the local community. 

While Jack created teaching materials for a school for disabled children in Harlem, Charles refurbished a portion of Ewen Park and Peter renovated the grounds at Riverdale Presbyterian Church. Kevin restored a storage room at St. Peter’s School in Yonkers. 

As a troop, the Riverdale Scouts earned 87 merit badges during a camping trip to Ten Mile River Scout Camp in July, including Small Boat Sailing, Rowing, Canoeing, Kayaking, Woodcarving, Shotgun and Rifle Shooting and Lifesaving. 

In August, the troop teamed up with scouts from Troop 353 in Eastchester to visit Philmont Scout Camp in Cimmaron, New Mexico, hiking over 60 miles and climbing Big Red Mountain, which reaches heights of over 11,000 feet. 

The troop will host an open house at the Riverdale Presbyterian Church on Friday, Oct. 10 at 7:30 p.m. and will welcome anyone interested in finding out more about becoming a scout.