Three’s a charm
A picnic table that Jake Paci built
From left, brothers Zachary, Jake and Sam Paci are shown with their Scoutmaster, Doug Hoover, at the Paci home in Malden.
Landscaping that Sam Paci did for his Eagle Scout project
Zachary Paci working on his project
It’s a rare phenomenon that three brothers earn their Eagle Scout badge on the same day. Even rarer is if the three brothers happen to be fraternal triplets.
Born on Aug. 24, 1997, Zachary, Sam and Jake Paci joined the Cub Scouts as Tigers while in first grade. The Malden triplets, now 18, have remained Scouts ever since, members of California-based Troop 1404.
On Feb. 27, the Paci brothers, along with three others in the troop, received their Eagle Scout badges in a special ceremony at their grandmother’s house in Low Hill.
“Only one in 10 who join the Scouts ever make it to the rank of Eagle Scout,” said Malden resident Doug Hoover, who’s been the boys’ Scoutmaster since they joined 12 years ago. “Of the 13 boys that were a part of this troop when I took over, nine have made the rank of Eagle, and, over the years, the troop has had a total of 16 Eagle scouts.”
To attain the top rank, a Scout has to complete a service project, document its progress and go before a Scouting board to detail his efforts. For his project, Zachary erected a flagpole, constructed three concrete benches and built an online database for Westland Cemetery in Centerville Borough.
“Using a typewritten book as my source, I entered information on approximately 1,000 marked graves in the cemetery’s database,” he said.
To build the benches, he first made wooden molds with help from his grandfather, Rich Binns, then poured the cement, purchased by the cemetery. Of the 180 hours he, his fellow Scouts and other volunteers put into the project, the database entry took up the bulk of their time.
As a result of Sam’s project, the grounds around Fredericktown Library now look a lot more attractive. With help from the township, which provided machinery to remove some of the old topsoil, Sam started planning for his $1,400 project in the fall of 2014.
In May of last year, with $1,250 donated by Friends of the Library, he, his parents and fellow Scouts laid “tons of fresh soil,” planted grass, shrubs and a dogwood tree, and built a patio complete with two benches that convert into a picnic table.
“I chose the library project because the grounds looked very bad at the time, and because my mother works there as a librarian,” Sam said.
The third Paci triplet, Jake, decided to build 12 picnic tables for Blainesburg Bible Church, where his grandmother, Marilyn Zirkle, attends services. Eleven tables are eight-feet long, and one has an extended top that allows for access by the those in wheelchairs.
“The church had just built a large pavilion and needed tables to fill it up,” Jake said. “All the lumber for the project was donated by the pastor’s brother-in-law, who owns a sawmill in Somerset.”
In addition to the three Paci triplets, two other Scouts who joined the troop in first grade, Jack Patterson and Jonathan Hoover, also received their Eagle Scout badges on Feb. 27. The sixth Scout, Ian Wolfe, joined at a later date.
Hoover, 17, of Malden packaged and shipped more than 100 care packages to troops both domestically and overseas.
Patterson, 17, of Centerville built a percussion organizer for the Bethlehem-Center High School band, and Wolfe, 16, of Malden constructed and placed 10 owl boxes, mostly in the area around the Center in the Woods on Route 88 near California.
When the Pacis turned 18 in August, they were no longer eligible to keep their Scout status, and they didn’t get their Eagle badges until February because all the paperwork had to be processed. Reminiscing about his 12-year involvement with the troop, Sam said that Scouting “teaches you to be a better person.”
Brother Jake said “it gives you a lot of opportunities to do things you wouldn’t normally get a chance to do at home or school.” For Zachary, Scouting has been “a lot of fun” and teaches you a lot of “useful things.”
Both parents, Dana and Mark Paci, helped their sons on their projects. Dana said she liked Zach’s best because it gave her a chance to sit down with her son and go through the history of Westland Cemetery while working on the database update.
The Pacis, who are seniors at Beth-Center High school, seem to be heading in different directions after graduation. Zachary plans to go to college and major in history, Jake wants to go into criminal justice, and Sam wants to enter a technical school, but isn’t yet sure what career path he’ll take.
Unfortunately, due to declining membership, Troop 1404 disbanded in December. To be viable, a troop must have at least five members and a Scout leader. Because California University of Pennsylvania still holds the troop charter, the troop may one day form again if enough youngsters decide to become members.
“For me, being the Scoutmaser for the troop has been a very interesting journey,” Hoover said. “Through the years, we’ve had a great group of kids and parents. And having a troop with triplets has proved to be a very interesting and unique experience.”