Westminster’s Tommy Padula is an extra-special Eagle Scout

November 1, 2010

By Hunter Amabile, hamabile@sentinelandenterprise.com

Posted: 11/01/2010 06:32:36 AM EDT

Dressed up in his tan uniform, and pressing his forefinger into each small patch that decorates his sash, Tommy Padula counted to 30.

Padula, 46, has been a Boy Scout for 30 years. And 30 represents the number of merit badges sewn into his uniform. He still has 12 more waiting to be put on.

On Sunday, Nov. 7 — the 100-anniversary celebration of the Boy Scouts of America — Padula, who was born with Down syndrome, will achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.

Padula is a member of Boy Scout Troop 823, a special-needs troop in Fitchburg.

“When he was born, the doctors said, ‘Put him away, he’s going to be a vegetable,’” said his mother, Yvette Padula, who lives with her son in Westminster.

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