Last summer, the Masotta family was hard at work replacing and installing a new footbridge at the Bent of the River Audubon Center in Southbury. This summer, Noah Masotta, the Eagle Scout behind the bridge, was recognized with his Eagle Scout Court of Honor.

Last year on July 28, a dedication ceremony was held at the Audubon Center for Noah’s bridge that he, his father John, his grandfather Papa, and several troop leaders and fellow scouts worked to put together. The bridge is 27.5 feet long — no small feat of engineering. It required over 300-man-hours worth of work, engineers to approve the blueprints and drawings, and funds sourced from donations.

Glen Somogie, the land and facilities manager at the Audubon Center, and Robin Ladouceur, director of the Audubon Center, shared some thoughts about Noah and his family’s efforts.

Somogie began, saying, “Robin and I wanted to dish out proper ‘thank yous’ today. We are so grateful for Noah and his team, his family, and friends on Troop 270…The old bridge as in desperate need of replacement as it funnels people to our center’s facility. Once completed, it has become one of the main attractions at the Bent.”

Somogie said that the bridge has been admired by hundreds of visitors at the Audubon Center. He then mentioned the historic flooding that occurred on August 18 that affected Southbury and Newtown greatly.

“A month after Noah finished the build,” Somogie said, “we had the thousand-year flood. I live in the house and site and started receiving the first alerts on the phone and I really didn’t think anything of it until I started hearing crashing of boulders in the brook on the side of the house…To my relief, [the bridge] was still standing strong.”

Somogie said the bridge was the only way he could leave and reenter the property for two weeks.

Ladouceur spoke next. She shared, “We’re a nonprofit, and Scout projects have become part of the lifeblood of the center that helps us because we are a nonprofit with limited resources. So these moments where we’re gifted with a project for a bridge that allows us to enhance the contiguity of the property are heartwarming.”

“This particular bridge weathered an unbelievable natural disaster that many of us experienced together last August and stood strong,” Ladoucuer added. She said that so many people wanted to know if the bridge survived the storm.

“It didn’t just survive,” Ladouceur said, “It thrived.”

She expanded on her thoughts, saying that the bridge is a “feat of love of many generations.” Part of Noah’s inspiration to fix the bridge was because his great uncle, Sal Masotta, was an avid bird watcher and conservationist who frequented the Bent of the River.

Following Ladouceur and Somogie’s remarks, Noah recited the Scout Oath in front of the crowd and was given his Eagle Scout pin from his grandfather. Then, some of his fellow Scouts from Troop 770 presented Noah with his Eagle Scout handkerchief. Noah then presented his parents with the Eagle Scout parent pin, and his grandparents with the Eagle Scout grandparent pin.

Then, Gregg Baimel, former Adult Leader for Troop 770 and current representative from Connecticut Yankee Council, shared some remarks about Noah and his scouting journey.

“I always find it so interesting when you’ve continued to get their Eagle even once the college application process is done, because some people do look at it as, ‘Oh this is a checkbox I need for my college applications.’ You were already in school when you finished your Eagle. The drive to continue doing that, that meant that much to you to go one when the next stage of your life has started…It’s not a miss that you didn’t get it before the application process. It’s a testament to who you are that it still meant something to you that you kept on going,” Baimel said to Noah.

After his speech, Baimel presented Noah with a photo of him and his son at a computer science competition from December 2018 and a patch from the Connecticut Yankee Council that is presented to Eagle Scouts at their Court of Honor Ceremonies.

Noah’s parents and sister then took the podium to deliver remarks and congratulations to the new Eagle Scout. Ivy, Noah’s sister, read a letter to Noah from Senator Chris Murphy on his accomplishment.

Murphy’s letter read, in part, “I have no doubt that you will continue to excel as you enter the next phase of your life. You serve as an exceptional example of the capabilities of young people throughout our country and the state of Connecticut. I am proud to represent you in the US Senate.”

Noah’s father, John, spoke next. John described the beginning of Noah’s journey, starting at Hawley Elementary School’s Pack 70, then moving to Danbury Magnet School’s Pack 44.

“Noah was small on stature, but big on drive. And I was running alongside trying to keep up,” John said. He added that Noah gravitated to the older scouts, but those older scouts continued to age out of the program.

John continued, “And then the pandemic hit, and it really limited what the troop could do. And Noah, I think, felt more alone in his scouting journey…[Noah] turned his energy and drive to the design and manufacture of 3D printed face shields for use by doctors, first responders, and the immunocompromised.”

It was here that John turned his attention to the Philmont Trek, “We truly had the trip of a lifetime.” John added that it was this trip that reignited the “scouting spirit” within Noah and that getting his Eagle was something he really wanted to do.

John closed his remarks with, “Noah, when you just take a look around and never forget you have a solid team behind you always. You don’t have to go it alone when challenges seem insurmountable.”

Following John’s remarks, Erin, Noah’s mother, shared some words with the crowd. She started by saying thank you to “the entire village” that was in attendance for helping Noah grow and complete his Eagle rank.

Erin added that not only did John and Noah complete the year-long training for the Philmont trek, but John had terrible accident that required knee surgery and spent the entire year not only prepping for the trek, but rehabilitating his knee also. She shared her concerns about the air patrol calling her from New Mexico telling her John had to be flown home, “but he did it. And it was the experience that I’m so, so grateful that they were able to have together.”

Ryan Eberts, a social studies teacher, swim coach, and track coach from Newtown High School was Noah’s selected guest speaker. Eberts spoke of Noah’s face shields as well, adding that he had a “poise and elocution that adults sometimes struggle to demonstrate” while teaching people how to wear the face shields properly.

“Since that moment, I have forever been impressed with the remarkable speed and ability with which Noah adapts to challenges,” Eberts said. “Put simply, Noah represented the kind of student that teachers dream of having in their classroom and the kind of student that embodies the qualities of a person deserving of the highest honor in scouting.”

After all the guest speakers, it was finally Noah’s turn to speak and present the Eagle Scout Mentor pin to the person of his choosing.

He began his speech by thanking everyone for being in attendance and shared some of his first memories of scouting, which included his first camping trip to Kettletown State Park, fishing with his father, and competing in the Pinewood Derby. Noah continued to share his highlights from scouting, which included the Philmont Trek, switching to Troop270 from 770, and working at Camp Sequassen. Noah also shared how his time in Boy Scouts helped him in his first year of college, as most Eagle Scouts finish their project and Court of Honor before the first semester.

“In addition to the Eagle badge, medal, and parent pins, is the mentor pin. This pin is supposed to be given to a person who I feel has given me significant guidance and support along my scouting journey,” Noah said. “However, as you might be able to tell, I have been very fortunate enough to meet a wide variety of spectacular and amazing people along my journey, both inside and outside of scouting, and it was tremendously difficult for me to select one person to present this pin to. So, instead, I ignored the problem and bought six more.”

The first two pins Noah gave was to Coach Carl Strait and his wife Sarah. Carl was Noah’s track coach who greatly inspired him. The next pin was given to Alan Page, the Scout Master for Troop 770 when Noah first joined. The next pin was awarded to Michael Hoyack and his wife, Karen, with mentor pins. The Hoyacks helped Noah get his last few merit badges and “[pushed Noah] over the finish line” for his board review. The next person Noah honored was Dave Applegate, a ranger at Camp Sequassen. The last person Noah honored was Eberts, who himself is an Eagle Scout.

Page then closed the ceremony with the Scoutmaster Minute.

The entire ceremony is on the Newtown Television NTV YouTube channel for anyone who would like to watch it.

=====

Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.