When spring comes early this year — and it will according to Phil the groundhog — Sloatsburg Elementary School will be in full bloom. Thanks to the efforts of Matthew Leanza, a sophomore at Suffern High School and a member of Boy Scout Troop 2146 Sloatsburg/Tuxedo, the school’s garden center is cleaned, equipped and ready for green growth come the March thaw.

Leanza, a resident of Pine Grove Lakes in Sloatsburg, recently achieved the rank of Eagle Scout — scouting’s highest rank — on December 22, 2012, with his elementary school greenhouse and garden renovation Eagle Scout project. An active member of the B.S.A. since 2003, Leanza presented his proposal to the Sloatsburg Village Board and members of the Sloatsburg PTA this past fall, then set to work, completing the 21 required merit badges and getting his hands down and dirty rebuilding the garden center. In his spare time, Leanza added an additional 28 merit badges to his crowded sash.

Leanza’s Eagle Service Project included the planning, supervising, and renovating of SES’s dilapidated greenhouse, including the installation of new planter boxes.

“I chose this project because I wanted to help others and care about the community I live in,” Leanza said. “The greenhouse hasn’t been used in years and it was just sitting there being used for storage. Students like my little brother didn’t get a chance to use it.”

Leanza demonstrated his community spirit and activism early on, receiving the Fromm-Maxwell-DeBaun Post 859’s Legion Student Government Award at Suffern Middle School in 2011, which is awarded to the student considered to be an excellent role model for others in his community.

On March 16, 2013, Leanza will be honored for his hard work and dedication at an Eagle Court of Honor Ceremony, which will be held at the Eagle Valley Firehouse in Tuxedo. The ceremony marks his official entry into the Boy Scout elite ranks, where he will be able to soar the rarified scouting skies of his brother and fellow Eagle Scout, Justin.

The scouts from Troop 2146 have been busy across Sloatsburg this past year. Most recently Sloatsburg streets were tagged with yellow badges in the shape of a fire department’s maltese cross as part of Dan O’Leary’s community service Eagle Scout project. The yellow street badges mark locations for Sloatsburg’s some 100 fire hydrants.

O’Leary earned his rank on August 25, 2012 before the Hudson Valley Council Eagle Board of Review. Shortly afterward, a flag was flown over the Capital in Washington, DC in his honor, which was then presented to him in a special Eagle Court of Honor on Nov. 11.

Other recent Eagle Scouts from Troop ’46 include Justin Leanza, Daniel Patrick Green, Jonathan Kraus, and Thomas Lorentz III. Lorentz just obtained the rank of Eagle Scout with his renovation project at the Sloatsburg Ambulance Corps building. Lorentz will have his Court of Honor on April 14.

Matthew Leanza was able to raise more than $2000 in contributions and donated goods for his greenhouse project. The Sloatsburg Elementary School greenhouse is now equipped with stainless steel shelves, an irrigation system, hose reel, and a gravel pathway to the greenhouse with stepping stones. Leanza also built and installed four planter boxes and installed wooden borders around the existing gardens. The project took approximately 270 man hours to complete and involved many helping hands, including other members of Troop 2146, and family and friends who worked on weekends to help complete the project.

Sloatsburg Elementary School first and fourth grade students also participated in the project by naturalizing existing garden bulbs — which involved planting bunches of various kinds of bulbs together so that they will bloom and appear as if they just popped up naturally come springtime. The whole greenhouse area has been meticulously reconstructed and will be functional for future students to use year round.

“I wanted to see the students be able to enjoy using the greenhouse like I did when I was a student at Sloatsburg Elementary,” Leanza said.

Photos and information generously contributed by Marianne Leanza.