West Hartford teen becomes an Eagle Scout
By Tracy Sullivan
JULY 16, 2004 - WEST HARTFORD — Ezra Figarsky Morrison of West Hartford has joined the ranks of famous Americans such as President Gerald Ford, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Ross Perot and Apollo astronaut James A. Lovell Jr. by becoming an Eagle Scout, the Boy Scouts of America's highest advancement level.
Only about four percent of all Boy Scouts earn the Eagle Scout rank, according to the Boy Scouts of America's Web site. Morrison was the only one from his troop this year to receive this honor.
After attaining the rank prior to Eagle, which is called Life, Morrison said that becoming an Eagle Scout "was just kind of the next step, the next phase."
"I've been doing this all my life. Why stop here?" explained the 18-year-old son of Deborah Figarsky and Ira Morrison who graduated from Hall High School in June. He is also the grandson of Abraham and Irene Figarsky of Norwichtown, and Abraham and Shirley Morrison of Windsor.
Born and raised in West Hartford, Morrison has been involved in scouting all his life. He was a Cub Scout and later became a Boy Scout. He attended Camp Mattatuck, a Boy Scout camp in Plymouth, as a camper and later as a counselor. He is also a member of the Order of the Arrow, Boy Scouts of America's national honor society.
To become an Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts who have attained the Life rank have to complete 21 Merit badges — 12 of which are mandatory — and select a major leadership project to undertake.
When Morrison needed help deciding what leadership project to take on, he consulted his rabbi at the Emanuel Synagogue in West Hartford, Rabbi David Small. The two brainstormed and thought of a project that not only displayed Morrison's leadership skills but also incorporated his love of music and brought joy to senior citizens in the area.
"I put together a band, and we played a series of free concerts at nursing homes and senior citizen centers," said Morrison, who played guitar in the band.
The concerts were scheduled during the winter holiday season when seniors, especially those living alone or those who do not have family living nearby, often get depressed, he explained. The purpose of the concerts was to uplift the spirits and bring joy to the seniors who attended the shows. He noted that many seniors in these residences are unable to regularly attend concerts.
Morrison enlisted the help of four Hall High seniors to form the band, all fellow musicians who had to complete five to 10 hours of community service as part of their government class, as well as a technical crew to tour with the group.
"We weren't a band to begin with," he said, noting that part of the project was finding the people to form the band and rehearsing.
The band performed four concerts in November 2003, playing oldies, show tunes, jazz and some modern pieces at four locations: Hebrew Home & Hospital in West Hartford, St. Mary's Place in West Hartford, Hamilton Heights in West Hartford, and Federation Homes in Bloomfield.
Before he could start putting the band together and arranging concert dates, he had to have his proposed project approved by his Boy Scout troop, Troop 44 based in West Hartford, as well as the Connecticut Rivers Council. He started planning the project a year ago.
"I was in charge of developing the idea, finding the contacts and talking with them, overseeing that everything went smoothly and troubleshooting those that didn't," he said.
The entire project took about 200 hours, and each band member logged in about 35 hours.
Following the concerts, Morrison was required to submit a detailed write-up of the entire project, which included timetables of hours that each person volunteers, signatures from the agencies where the band played, changes to the original plan, timeline and pictures from rehearsals and concerts.
After submitting his project write-up, he went before two boards of review, one on the troop level and another on the district level.
"They asked me questions about my project, my involvement in scouting over the years, what I would change about the project. They asked me where I think I'm headed in life," explained Morrison, who is currently a counselor at Camp Shalom in Windsor.
Minutes after the district review, he and his parents learned that he was being recommended to the national council for Eagle Scout.
"I was just relieved more than anything else, and then just happy," Morrison said. "This took up so much time and so many months of work."
But it was worth it, and he recommends other scouts try to attain Eagle rank.
"Sure it's a lot of work, but it pays off. You've come so far in scouting and learned so much, why not be recognized for your accomplishments? Go for Eagle."
Comments? E-mail tracysullivan@jewishledger.com.