Nature Center honors work of local Boy Scouts

The Indian Creek Nature Center would be very different if the Eagle Scouts did not exist, according to Margaret Wolter, a program specialist at the center.

“If you took away the 100-or-so improvement projects Eagle Scouts have done, we wouldn't be the place we are today,” Wolter said.

To honor those contributions, the nature center is putting aside space for an Eagle Scout memorial, which is being built by local Boy Scout Troop 3, to be installed at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 10, 2010.

The memorial was the idea of Matteo Tormene, 14, a freshman scout at Washington High School who came up with the idea during his own Eagle Scout service project at Indian Creek. All Boy Scouts aspiring to the rank of eagle must complete a service project before they are promoted.

Tormene was helping to clear out foreign vegetation to allow more room for native oak trees to grow, and couldn't help but notice all of the different improvements that were made to the park over the years by his fellow scouts.

“Since projects go on every day there, it would be nice to commemorate the Eagle Scouts who have put in so much work,” he said.

Some of the other projects Eagle Scouts have completed include the construction of a suspension bridge, trail maintenance and work to mitigate damage caused by the 2008 flood. The nature center's mission and goals of preservation have a lot of appeal for scouts, who spend much of their time outdoors, according to Tormene.

“We just want to help conserve that space because it's so good for nature educational activities,” he said. “They also support the scouts and encourage activities if they can.”

The idea was received enthusiastically by Indian Creek, which has benefited substantially from the work of scouts in the past, according to Wolter, whose son Elijah Wolter, 13, also is in Troop 3.

“When these boys come out, they bring with them a team of 20 to 30 other workers and put in a lot of work,” she said.

The memorial currently is under construction in the basement of Nate Pollock, the troop's scoutmaster. The boys carved a wooden eagle out of plywood that is a larger version of the Eagle Scouts emblem. It holds several branches in its talons that have copper leaves imprinted with the names of scouts who worked at the nature center. The sculpture also has a digital photo frame built into it to display pictures of some of the service projects completed by the scouts.

“That's a lot more than your standard project,” Pollock said.

The memorial's installation coincides with the yearlong national celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America.