First Posted: 2/11/2015
Gregory John Grabiec, the son of Atty. Sherwood Grabiec and Valerie Grabiec, of Avoca, received the Boy Scouts of America Eagle Award at a formal ceremony and reception held in December 2013 and hosted by Troop 285, Duryea.
The ceremony was held at the Dupont Volunteer Hose Company banquet hall. Gregory’s father, a former Den Leader with Pack 375 and current Assistant Scoutmaster with Troop 285, received his Eagle Award at the same venue in February 1972, while a member of Troop 361, Dupont.
Gregory is the grandson of Marion Babiarz and the late John Babiarz, and the late Cecilia and Felix Grabiec.
He is a 2014 graduate of Pittston Area and is a freshman at Penn State University. He is a member of Saint Joseph Marello Parish, Pittston, the National Eagle Scout Honor Society, and has joined his father as an Assistant Scoutmaster for Troop 285.
Through his mother’s piano tutelage, he has participated in numerous piano competitions sponsored by the North East Music Teachers’ Association, having earned the honor of twice performing at the Carnegie Recital Hall in New York, and performances at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Moravian College, Penn State and West Chester Universities, and the Kirby Center.
Gregory has received the Paderewski Medal from the National Guild of Piano Auditions for accomplished piano performance spanning 10 years, the Irl Anderson Medal, and three Gold Cup Awards from the National Federation of Music Clubs.
Gregory began his scouting journey with Pack 361, Dupont, and continued with Pack 375 during which he received Cub Scouting’s highest award, the Arrow of Light, along with the Parvuli Dei Religious Award. Thereafter, he became a Boy Scout and joined Troop 285 where he served as Senior Patrol Leader, Historian, Quartermaster, and Scribe.
As the Troop Historian, Gregory created an audio and video presentation documenting the troop’s weekend camporee in 2010 in Gettysburg, during which the attending scouts earned the Gettysburg Historic Trail Award. The video is in the troop archives.
Gregory enjoyed seven years of resident camping at the Goose Pond Scout Reservation, five biennial council Travelling Camporees to Ottawa, Williamsburg, Pittsburgh, Boston, and most recently, Washington, D.C. He became an Ordeal and Brotherhood member of the Order of the Arrow, Lowwapaneu Lodge 191 during ceremonies held at Goose Pond.
As a scout, Gregory has earned 46 merit badges, and the Bronze and Gold Eagle Palms, assisted the troop and the Lowwapaneu Lodge in community service projects, participated in the annual Postal Workers’ food drives at the Pittston Meals on Wheels headquarters, and assisted his fellow scouts during their Eagle Scout service projects.
Gregory’s service project served the Luzerne County S.P.C.A and consisted of the clearing and preparation of a wooded plot of land for increased pet cemetery space, refurbishment of the facility’s outdoor benches, and the placement of a memorial sign.
Gregory received help in completing his project from his fellow scouts and adult leaders, and received sponsorship help from Walter’s Hardware, Wilkes-Barre, and Fast Signs of Dickson City.
He extends his sincere gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. Walter Latanski, and Mrs. and Mrs. Al Arnal for that sponsorship, and to the adult leaders of Troop 285, Ann Edwards, Robert Dzieciol, Dorothy Collins, their spouses, and his parents.
