Ringgold grad is Eagle Scout

By ERIC SEIVERLING

eseiverling@yourmvi.com

Being a Boy Scout is serious business to Michael Falappi.

A 2020 Ringgold High School graduate, Falappi recently achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest attainable rank in scouting.

An eight-year veteran of Boy Scout Troop 1448 of Monongahela, Falappi has earned all 21 merit badges required for Eagle Scout, as well as 13 additional merit badges.

He has served as both patrol leader and senior patrol leader. In 2017, he was selected by his fellow scouts into the Order of the Arrow, which is the Boy Scouts’ National Honor Society, and became a brotherhood member in 2018.

Now 18, Falappi will remain on the troop’s charter until Dec. 31, and is studying music industry at West Virginia University.

“I have always loved music,” he said. “I play the guitar, bass, piano and have been working on learning to play the drums. In my mind, it made sense for me to go to school to do something with music. I could become a record producer, audio engineer, tour manager, concert booker or promoter.”

For his Eagle Scout project, Falappi organized the restoration of the Monongahela Station gazebo, owned by the Monongahela Area Revitalization Corporation, located between the Monongahela high rise and McDonald’s. The gazebo was cleaned, stained, painted and the area around it was landscaped with timber to replace decayed railroad ties. The project involved 19 people and included 221 hours of combined planning and labor.

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