We are proud of our adult leadership at Troop 175. It’s deep and experienced. Our Adult leaders have camped, climbed, fished, hunted and explored on many expeditions. They are all great teachers. In addition we have a very high participation by the Dads in our Troop and it is not unusual to have 10-15 dads on a trip. No experience is necessary and if you were never a Scout as a boy this is your second chance to learn the ropes. We have a Dads/Leaders Patrol, the “Usual Suspects,” on each trip and we eat very well (a source of some pride and a fair bit of competition) and share a lot of experiences as Dads and as professionals from all walks of life.
Our Troop is Boy Led and our Boy Leaders are selected by the adult leadership based on their performance and ability to lead. The senior patrol leaders and patrol leaders share their wisdom and pass on their knowledge to the younger Scouts through our trip and advancement programs. The Boy Scouts is one of the very few organizations where boys can be put in leadership positions at ages as young 12. Good leaders often appear early and the fun of Scouting is watching them "take the lead".
Troops are only as good as the boys who want to step up and take charge and the adult volunteers who are there to assist. This years boy leaders are:
Mike Vallen - Senior Patrol Leader, (Lead Scout)
Mike is 17 and a senior this year at Avon High School where he is the captain of both the Varsity Cross Country team and Varsity Crew team. He is also a member of the Varsity Swim team. He became an Eagle Scout in May, 2009. Mike along with Life Scout Keegan Rice, and Eagle Scout Lee Adamowicz set the record this past year for the Adventure Race beating the previous time by 30 minutes. Mike is also a Cadet for the Volunteer Fire Department in Avon. This past summer he was the number one pick (as well as the youngest) for the Rookie class at Stone Harbor Lifeguards in New Jersey. He was proud to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa in 2007. In 2008, he hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, Peru. He is a member of the Order of the Arrow and is a founding member of the Immortals.
Jake Van Loon - Assistant Senior Patrol Leader
Jake Van Loon is a Junior at the Kingswood-Oxford School. He is 16 and a Life Scout.Jake swims on the varsity swim team for KO and also for Charter Oak Team, and is also taking Lifeguard Training. Jake in 2007 attended the Scout National Jamboree in Virgina, in 2006 the Scout International Jamboree in the U.K. and was the crew chief for Troop 175's most recent trip to the Philmont ranch in New Mexico. Jake is a member of the Immortals.
Robert Asensio - Assistant Senior Patrol Leader
Rob is a Life Scout and a Senior at Simsbury High School. He manages the girls’ volleyball team and plays on the boys’ team, where he is a two time captain. He was a member of the 2006 trek at Philmont Scout Ranch and the whitewater canoeing trip at Maine High Adventure. Outside of scouting he enjoys fishing, basketball, longboarding, and hiking.
Rob Burke - Assistant Senior Patrol Leader
Rob is a life Scout ,16 and a Junior at Simsbury high School. Rob is the front man for the band Anti- Armistice that plays to sell out crowds in the Simsbury area. He long boards,surfs, and snowboards in his spare time.
Keegan Rice - Assistant Senior Patrol Leader
Keegan is in 8th grade at Henry James in Simsbury and is 14. He is a energetic Life scout and has earned more than 25 merit badges to date, including Pathfinding which was discontinued in 1952. Keegan has been a patrol leader and instructor for the past two years, served as Senior Patrol Leader during summer camp and is a member of the Immortals. He is active in sports and excels at soccer, running, surfing and snowboarding.
Rob Carter – Immortal Chief
Rob is the current Chief of Troop 175’s Immortals high adventure group, and a former
Assistant Senior Patrol Leader. A Life Scout, he is 16 and a sophomore at Simsbury High School. He was a member of the 2009 expedition to the Philmont Boy Scout Ranch in New Mexico and the 2008 expedition to the Amazon jungle in Peru. Rob is a committed athlete, and expects to play basketball for Simsbury High School this winter. An avid traveler, he has journed extensively through Greece, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
Adult Leadership
Brad Mead - Scoutmaster
Brad is an Eagle Scout and has hiked, climbed, paddled and explored in over 135 countries a passion developed during his scout days in the 1960's. He has been on or led 5 Himalayan expeditions, three Amazon basin expeditions, a Haute Route team over the top of the Alps in winter, climbed the Matterhorn, the Eiger, Jungfrau, Mt. Blanc, two first ascents in the Wind Rivers and this last
summer Kilimanjaro and the Amazon Jungle trip this past summer.. He is a graduate of National Outdoor Leadership School in Lander, Wyoming. He is a licensed pilot, scuba diver, skydiver and sailing captain and a member of the Immortals. He is trained in wilderness first aid and high altitude rescue. Brad is the CEO and President of Delta Capital Group and investment bank in Avon, Ct. His two sons Ryan and Jeffery have received their Eagle Scout awards in 2008 and are now Sophomores in College.
Peter Adamowicz - Assistant Scoutmaster
Peter is avid fly fisherman and paddler. A Cub Scout Den leader for 5 years and an assistant Scoutmaster for the last 5 years, he is currently one of our two trip planners for the Troop. He is CPR certified and SOLO Wilderness First Aid Trained. He was one of two adults that led the Philmont 2006 Crew to the National Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico. VP and Chief Estimator with Gilbane Building, 5th largest construction company in the United States. His son, Lee, is an Eagle Scout and an Assistant Scoutmaster. His youngest son, Tom is a Patrol Leader and Life Scout.
Bill is an Assistant Scoutmaster and former scout. He and his family have hiked and camped in many of our countries national parks. Bill is President of the Web Marketing Association and developed our troop Google group and Web site. He also instructs the scout leadership in public speaking skills once a month. His 13-year-old son Keegan is currently a Life Scout and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader.
Hunter Peacock - Assistant Scoutmaster
Hunter is a
former scout who served as the first Senior Patrol Leader in his
hometown Boy Scout troop. Throughout his adult life, he has enjoyed
organizing numerous outdoor adventures for family and friends ranging
from climbing trips to western mountains including Mt. Whitney, Shasta,
Hood, and Rainier to desert backpacking trips in the Grand, Paria,
Escalante, and Zion Canyons. He is a certified open water scuba diver.
Hunter manages treasury operations for Ahlstrom Capital Corporation.
His two sons are both scouts. Isaac is currently a Star scout, a patrol leader His son Jake is a Webelos II.
Gary Barch - Assistant Scoutmaster
Gary has been active in the Simsbury Scouts for 4 years. He enjoys the
outdoors, especially fishing, camping, hiking, mountain biking and
canoeing. He also enjoys photography and is PDIC certified in Scuba
Diving. Gary organizes the Simsbury Fly-In Scout volunteers and is
involved in other events throughout the year. He works for Design
Innovation in Avon, Ct as a toy and product developer. His oldest son,
Eric, is currently a Star scout, Patrol Leader and a member of the Immortals. His younger
son, Kevin, is a Webelos II.
Mark is a former Cub master for Cub Scout Pack 175, and is a lifetime member of “The North American Hunting Club”. An avid outdoorsman he enjoys; Hunting, Fishing, Camping, Cooking, and is PDIC certified in Scuba Diving. He works as a QA Designer for The Hartford Insurance Company Personal Lines IT Department. His son Steven is a First-Class scout.
Ann Carabillo - Assistant Scoutmaster
Ann Carabillo is the Boys Rowing Coach at Simsbury High School. She has
been coaching for 20 years. She is a USRowing Level 3 Certified Coach.
She is also certified in First Aid and CPR. Ann is the President of the
Connecticut Public Schools Rowing Association and Regatta Director for
the State Championship. She is also on the Regatta Committee at the New
England Championship. Many of Ann's rowers are also fellow Scouts and
Eagle Scouts. Ann is also a Girl Scout leader and a Team Member for
Simsbury's Girl Scouts. Her son, Nicholas is a Star scout, patrol leader and a member of the Immortals.
Gerry Burke- Assistant Scoutmaster
Gerry is an accomplished outdoorsman. He sails, canoes, fishes, skies, and road bikes. He is a certified scuba diver and certified in CPR. Gerry also runs our summer camp program. He is an international consultant in electrical design engineering. His son, Rob is a Life scout and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader. His other other son, Kevin is a Star scout and assistant patrol leader.
Bob Gilmore - Assistant Scoutmaster
Bob is an Eagle Scout. He has been an Assistant Scoutmaster with Troop 175 for 10 years. He has extensive outdoor experience including three extended trips to
the BSA Maine High Adventure Base – one as a Scout and two as an adult
leader, backpacking on the Vermont Long Trail, and annual extended
hunting trips to the remote North Woods of Maine. Bob works as a
natural resource biologist with the Connecticut Department of
Environmental Protection, Inland Water Resources Division. He is also a
registered Soil Scientist. He holds an MS degree in Wildlife Management
(Frostburg State) and a BS degree in Natural Resources (URI). Bob’s
professional interests include wetlands ecology and wildlife, fisheries
and soil science. His son, Brian, received his Eagle Scout Badge in
2006.
David Carter - Assistant Scoutmaster
David is a former scout and has re-found his scout skills as an adult leader. He teaches numerous merit badge classes and has traveled with the troop on trips in 10 states. David came to Simsbury following 20 years in Washington, most recently as a Presidential appointee and executive at the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. Currently, he heads corporate communications for Aetna. He has two sons, Cortlandt, who received his Eagle rank in June 2009 and is a freshman in college, and Robert, the Immortals Chief and Life Scout.
Peter Van Loon - Assistant Scoutmaster
Peter is an Eagle Scout and a previous member of the Navy's Explosive Ordnance
Disposal Team. He returned in 2007 from Afghanistan training Afghani Regulars. He
has extensive experience in the outdoors, both mountains and deserts. He co-led
the Philmont 2009 Trip and will spend this next year in Djibouti as a member of the
Navy Reserve. He works in Aetna's Finance as steward of their IT department. His
son Jacob is a Life Scout and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader.
Mark Drake - Assistant Scoutmaster
Mark Drake has been an Assistant Scout Master with Troop 175 for 5 years. Mark participates in many of the Troop trips and is one of our Senior Scout instructors and a member of The Immortals. Mark is a master fire builder and campfire chef. He is a self-employed general contractor. His son, Max is Assistant Scoutmaster.
Tom Nicholson - Assistant Scoutmaster
Tom began his scouting career as a youth in Adirondack, NY and recently held Pack, District and Council leadership positions in N.J. before moving to Ct. He has been a Scout University and District Trainer and received the Wood Badge. He is a hunter, kayaker, scuba diver, skier and fisherman. He coaches at fast Pitch nation and works for Eastern Mountain Sports in their retail division. He is a member of the Ct First Company Horse Guards. His son TJ is a Tenderfoot scout.
Lee Adamowicz - Assistant Scoutmaster
Lee is a Senior at Simsbury High School where he is on the student council and is captain of the crew team. He is 18 years old and an Eagle Scout. He is a member of the Simsbury Fire Department and runs his own landscaping business. This past year Lee served as the senior patrol leader of troop 175. As a scout, he was part of the 12 man Philmont crew that went to the National Scout ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico in 2006 and a member of the 2008 Amazon Jungle Expedition. A graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School, he spent 30 days this past summer camping and mountaineering far away from civilization in the British Columbian coastal mountain range. During this time he learned many valuable leadership skills and perfected many skills associated with living well and efficiently in the outdoors. Lee is also founding member of the Immortals.
Max Drake - Assistant Scoutmaster
Max is a Senior at Simsbury High School. He is 18 years old and is a Life Scout. Max is an expert at all aspects of Scouting and one of our most expert teacher of younger scouts. Outside of Scouting, Max is an avid mountain biker and is a founding member of the Immortals.
Rich, a Scouter for over 15 years, advises our Venture Crew. He’s earned the Wood Badge Award for advance Scout leader training and attended the Philmont Training Center. He is a Brotherhood member of the Order of the Arrow and has earned both the Boy Scouter and Boy Scout Training Awards. His junior leaders nominated him for his receipt of the Scoutmaster Award of Merit. Rich enjoys the outdoors and has served as adult Advisor for Florida Sea Base and Philmont Trek Crews. He was 1st Assistant Scoutmaster for Troop 503 at the 2005 National Scout Jamboree in Virginia. He served the Metacomet District in several capacities. For his service as Troop 175 Scoutmaster for over 8 years, he received the 2006 Simsbury “Hometown Hero” Award.
