John Wilson, a 2013 Eagle Scout from Boy Scout Troop 70 in New Canaan, has been named the grand marshal of the New Canaan Memorial Day parade. He just finished his freshman year at the University of Notre Dame.
The Grand Marshal designation was made to honor his service to the town of New Canaan and to the veterans in town, according to Peter Langenus, commander of New Canaan’s VFW Post Post 653.
• John Wilson’s Eagle Scout project
• Guide to Memorial Day 2014 in New Canaan
Wilson’s Eagle Scout project consisted of locating, identifying and categorizing all of the 900 veterans buried in Lakeview Cemetery. As the data was collected, he created a spreadsheet which catalogued the veterans alphbetically by last name and a separate spreadsheet by section of the cemetery. When the project was almost completed, he then created a logistical plan for the distribution of the more than 900 flags placed on veteran’s headstones each Memorial Day. He also created a separate logistical plan for the distribution of Christmas wreaths each December.
For more information on Wilson’s project, see this week’s Advertiser on Thursday, May 26.
John Wilson, an Eagle Scout, stands in May 2013 in a section of Lakeview Cemetery where a number of a war veterans are buried, holding the book he created, “The Veterans of Lakeview Cemetery.” In it, he cataloged information on — and mapped out the gravesite — of every New Canaan vet. (Laureen Vellante photo)