Adam’s Eagle Project

Late Friday evening, Friday the 13th, Adam received written and verbal approval to commence his proposed Eagle Scout Project.  He quickly began calling individuals to see if they would be able to  assist him the following day.  After a nice dinner at a Chinese Buffet, Adam and I made a stop by Home Depot to see if they had any picnic table kits; only one store had some in stock but we had the wrong vehicle and the store was closing.  First thing Saturday morning we loaded up the trailer on the old Chevy van and headed out on the day’s journey to get the tables and other materials.

The first stop we made was to the bulk mulch site to pick up 4 1/2 yards of mulch.  Placing the mulch in first allowed us to load the tables and lumber on top.. as the tables were going to come off first…good thinking Adam.  Next we headed to the Home Depot on East Colonial and picked up 5 picnic table kits, three for the project and two for the ranch, in addition we bought 12 landscape timbers. Jen Singleton was there working and was a huge help… Thanks Jen!!!

We drove into our driveway just before noon, shortly afterwards we were followed in by several others who came to help. Bishop Hillis with two of his girls and Dan Bridenbaugh; from that time on we had a steady inflow of help.. how grateful we were for each soul who arrived to help with the project on such short notice.

Adam was making his rounds among the different groups assembling the tables, demonstrating leadership, directing and giving encouragement to others for the completion of the tables.  Part of becoming an Eagle Scout is the ability to show leadership and organizational skills.. where Adam normally likes to get his hands dirty with the rest, this time he had to refrain his normal impulses.

We’re here to work… ok we’re here to play 🙂

The work went well, everyone was so helpful and a pleasure to work with.  Adam did his best of getting around and ensuring that the tables were going together well.  Having the tables in a kit was a wonderful choice as it made a safer project, it was more expedient and easier to follow the instructions.

Mason: “alright Bishop and old man.. I mean dad, let’s lift all together now.”t.

We loaded the tables in their finished state back onto the trailer, lined up the caravan and headed to Bithlo, FL.  United Global Outreach, headed up by Tim McKinney, was the beneficiary of the project.

Once on site we framed in two picnic table areas with landscape timbers and mulched the area well. There were a few challenges with the area; we needed extra timbers, stacking them two high and pinning them together with re-bar spikes.  Thanks to Chris Dowdy and a quick response we were able to get the additional supplies in quick order.

Over all the project came out well and shows GREAT:  we had a total of 25 individuals who showed up to help. THANK YOU!

All for one and one for all

Finished Product