St. Andrew Presbyterian Church was packed with family, friends and boy scouts from local Troop 16 on Saturday night, in support of Sonoma Valley High School junior David DeSmet, who received his Eagle Scout badge at a National Court of Honor.
DeSmet has been an active Scout since starting as a young Tiger Cub in the first grade. To achieve the rank of Eagle, a Boy Scout must earn 21 merit badges, demonstrate troop leadership, and complete an Eagle community service project. DeSmet earned a total of 27 merit badges, and during Scout outings he climbed all seven “Rimrover” mountain peaks in the Bay Area, climbed Half Dome twice and completed a 62-mile backpack trip at the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico.
As part of the ceremony, DeSmet chose Bill Hammett, publisher of the Sun, to receive the Eagle Mentor Pin. Hammett had given him his first job experience at the Sonoma Valley Sun, when DeSmet was in the sixth grade, and the two have backpacked together, including the expedition at Philmont.
This is not the first award for DeSmet, who won the Sonoma County Spelling Bee in 2004, took first place for Fine Arts and Music in the Junior High Catholic Academic Decathlon three years in a row (2004-2006), and earned second-place honors in the 2006 Sonoma County Science Fair for building a working hovercraft.
DeSmet is also passionate about his music, having studied classical piano for 12 years, and is presently a member of the St. Andrew Bell Choir and Sonoma Valley High School jazz band. He is currently a junior at the high school and hopes to attend Cal Tech or UC Berkeley after graduation, to study theoretical physics or engineering.
