After a COVID year, Ryan Tripp and Stewart James honored at Eagle Scout ceremony

Scout leader Glenn Tripp addresses son Ryan, center, and fellow honoree Stewart James, far left

It was a belated ceremony but no less a celebration for Stewart James and Ryan Tripp, two young men among eight Eagles from a single Cub Scout den starting in first grade. The scouts began their journeys under the leadership of James’ father, Rob, a scoutmaster and former Council president. Coming full circle, both Rob James and Tripp’s father Glen, also a Scoutmaster, were themselves Eagle Scouts (Tripp, 1986 in Poway; James, 1975 in Salinas).

Troop 15 awarded eight Eagles in 2019-2020, but due to schedules and college starts, this court ended up being for Ryan and Stewart alone. Others Troop 15 members who received Eagle in either 2019 or 2020 were: Connor Tang, Will Andreoni, Robert Roth, Paul Gray, Baron Zhu, and Michael Gray.

Tripp’s project was to expand access to rowing through an innovative partnership between Oakland Strokes and West Oakland high schools, spreading the benefits of rowing to new populations.

Stewart’s project was to build a “chill zone” reading loft with learning materials for a third-grade classroom at Sequoia Elementary in Oakland. (Piedmont resident Susan Chiodo is the teacher of that class.)

Also at the ceremony, new scout Christiane Zuber lit a candle in memory of Linda P. Trowbridge (1955-2020). Trowbridge was a Piedmont community leader and mentor to many Eagle Scouts and Girl Scout Gold Award recipients over the years.