Brendan Leary Awarded Eagle Scout After Leading Chesapeake Bay Oyster Recovery Project

Brendan Leary, age 15, from Alexandria’s Rosemont neighborhood, has earned the Boy Scouts of America Eagle Scout Award. He was recognized in a ceremony held October 8th at the First Baptist Church on King Street. The ceremony was attended by scouts, family, friends, and community leaders, including state Senator Adam Ebbin, Councilman Paul Smedburg, and former Mayor Bill Euille.  

A member of Troop 131, which is sponsored by the First Baptist Church, Brendan is one of approximately two percent of all Boy Scouts nationwide who have attained the rank of Eagle since the award’s inception in 1912.

An Eagle Scout must earn 21 merit badges, show leadership, and successfully lead a significant community service project to complete his Eagle Scout requirements.

Brendan’s service project was focused on improving the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay.  Brendan’s Chesapeake Bay Oyster Recovery Project benefitted the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF). Brendan led a group of 53 volunteers in constructing 105 oyster cages, a project that required 201 hours of volunteer service. The CBF placed 1,000 oyster spat in each cage. Once grown, the adult oysters will be placed on a sanctuary reef to act as a natural filter for the Bay’s water, filtering about 50 gallons of water per oyster each day. Brendan’s project will help with the placement of 105,000 oysters into the Bay, which will filter 5.25 million gallons of water each day (almost 2 billion gallons of water each year).  Brendan plans to further the project by developing an educational video on the critical role oysters play in naturally filtering water in the Chesapeake Bay.

Brendan served for four years as a Den Chief in Pack 135 at Maury Elementary School, helping lead younger cub scouts as they prepared to become Boy Scouts. He is a member of the Order of the Arrow, often referred to as the Boy Scout’s honor society.

A sophomore in the S.T.E.M. program at T.C. Williams High School, Brendan is an accomplished musician (guitar & piano) and plays lead guitar in the Del Ray-based rock band, On the House.  His band has performed on the main stage of the Birchmere several times as part of the ROAM band school program.  Brendan spent the past summer interning at ROAM music school, assisting younger musicians with guitar and musical arrangements. During the holidays, Brendan assists with orders at Shuman’s Bakery, his family’s 140-year-old local business.

Brendan, a seventh-generation Alexandrian, is the son of Alexandria natives John and Maureen Leary.