Lovier earns Eagle Scout, inventories veteran gravesites
Michael Lovier has joined the rarified ranks of Eagle Scout, an accomplishment he is rightly proud of.
“I think only about 4% of people attain this,” Lovier said. “It is something that is well recognized and wherever you go it is a nationally recognized accomplishment.”
But the work he did to earn this rank is also something he is proud to have taken part in.
With the help of other scouts and volunteers, Lovier created a virtual catalogue of more than 500 veteran graves in Lake View Cemetery.
“It is very satisfying,” Lovier said. “This is something that I wanted to do for our community and I feel it was a good deed and service to the community.”
Scoutmaster Ron Fey said he was impressed with Lovier’s work and he believes the projects scouts and those seeking the rank of Eagle Scout, take on encourage important traits like leadership in young people.
Fey said he never ceases to be impressed by the projects he sees young people involved with scouts taking on.
Lovier said he was inspired by his father, who served in the Navy, as well as by a fellow scout who took on a similar project at St. Mary’s Cemetery.
“Lake View is a large cemetery,” Lovier said. “But I knew this was something I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to take on this task. We were able to GPS and photograph over 500 graves in one day.”
But after that the work just started.
Lovier spent three weeks importing information on each veteran and their gravesite into the site and app called BillionGraves, the world’s largest index of cemetery data.
Lovier said he thought this was important to do in order to help preserve the memories of those who served and make their resting places accessible to anyone interested in visiting these sites and paying their respects.
After completing the project, Lovier met with the American Legion to speak about the work.
“They have paper copies of all of this information but now it is online,” Lovier said. “It makes it easier for other people to find it. I talked about how they can update this information moving forward too.”
Lovier started scouts early on when his family lived in North Carolina.
After moving to Skaneateles, Lovier started scouting again in third grade joining Pack 161 and later Troop 61.
Lovier said this is an experience he has found rewarding and he has encouraged his younger brother to also take part in scouts.
The scouting experience has given Lovier the opportunity to experience things he might not otherwise have taken part in.
This includes things like his first time flying, co-piloting a single engine Cessna during a Young Eagle Flight.
He also pushed himself to go mountain climbing.
“For me, I’m afraid of heights,” Lovier said. “I went on my first flight because of scouts and I climbed a mountain. It helped me conquer my fears.”
A soon to be graduate of Skaneateles High School, Lovier also played on the state champion hockey team and also played soccer, while taking on a challenging course load during his senior year.
Lovier also ran a book drive for the Rotary Club.
“I collected children’s books for CNY Books for the World, which donates books to third world countries,” he said. “To bolster donations I coordinated a dodgeball tournament where students had the option to donate books to participate.”
Next year, Lovier will be attending Cornell, but he said he can see scouts being a part of his future.
“I can see it being a part of my life,” Lovier said. “If I have kids I would encourage them to get involved with scouts. It has been a rewarding experience.”
