Singular event: Novato twins in different troops make Eagle Scout
Fraternal twins Jason and Adam Gurrola have spent 11 years each in Marin scouting programs, but they did not want their tenures to be carbon copies.
After completing Cub Scouts together, they joined different Boy Scout troops in Novato, where they live. They also created separate community improvement projects to fulfill the rigorous requirements for the Eagle Scout ranking.
As part of the review process for the Eagle Scout badge, the twins’ scoutmasters presented their projects to a panel from the Marin Community Foundation on Dec. 17.
Now the twins, 17-year-old seniors at San Marin High School, have achieved the Eagle Scout rank at the same time. They will be awarded their badges and pins at a public ceremony Sunday at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato.
“We joined different troops, but it was really great that we could finish our journey together,” Jason Gurrola said.
Their mother, Doreen Gurrola, said the occasion of having twins from different Scout troops earning their Eagle ranking at the same time has not happened in the recent history of Marin scouting.
“The last time twins earned their Eagle together was in 2021,” she said. “In all recent instances, the twins belonged to the same troop.”
For his Eagle Scout community project, Jason Gurrola, a member of Troop 73, led a group of 18 volunteers and troop members to install a system of terraced stone steps, with gravel in the middle, at the entrance to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Novato.
The project, which took the group three weekends in May to complete, included removing numerous juniper bushes that had grown on the property.
“They had a bunch of juniper bushes already there, but they weren’t very aesthetically pleasing,” Jason Gurrola said. Once the juniper bushes were removed and the terraced steps installed, the appearance of the church was greatly improved, he said.
“I really like it,” he said. “It complemented the hillside very well.”
He added that he “definitely learned a lot about construction” in completing the project.
“Just mapping out sites, and building something like that, I hadn’t done that much of it before,” Gurrola said. “It was a real opportunity.”
His scoutmaster, Corey Reed, said the teen’s leadership stood out.
“Jason’s attention to detail has made him an awesome leader in the troop,” Reed said. “He always has a great attitude, and is ready to persevere through unknowns on outings.”
Adam Gurrola, a member of Troop 200, said his community project included installing 30 stone steps at Stafford Lake Disc Golf Course in Novato. The game involves throwing flying discs at a series of targets, aiming to complete the course in the fewest throws.
The steps replaced worn wooden steps that hindered access to the course during the rainy season, he said. A nearby creek complicated the access.
“I came up a couple months beforehand to check it out,” he said. “The head ranger told me that the steps was their biggest concern.”
After extensive planning to schedule volunteers into shifts, the implementation took place on May 31. Each of the 30 steps took about a half-hour to complete.
“The process was a lot harder than I thought it would be,” Gurrola said. “The biggest problem was getting all the materials to the site. There was this creek that was right in front of it.”
“The hardest part about this project was that there were so many different parts to be done,” he said. “The hard part was managing how to do that.”
“That’s what the Eagle project is for,” he added. “It’s for showing that your leadership shaped some part of the community.”
Eric Zepeda, the Troop 200 scoutmaster, praised Gurrola’s persistence in completing the difficult project.
“Adam just doesn’t quit,” he said. “Even when things get tough, he stays the course and powers through.”
Both twins have been recognized as members of the local Scouting Honors Society. In addition, Adam Gurrola was named 2024 “scout of the year” by the Marin Council, the group that oversees scouting activities in the county.