MADISON TOWNSHIP —
As Madison cross-country runner Mitchell Farnsworth paused to stretch under the township pavilion this summer, he noticed the old lakefront building was looking rather shabby.
“I thought if it were cleaned up, more people would enjoy it,” says Mitchell, the son of Mike and Stephanie Blake.
Mitchell, who has been a Boy Scout since 11, was looking for an Eagle Scout project at the time of his epiphany, and decided to approach the Madison Township Trustees with a proposal. He offered to give the pavilion and its picnic tables a fresh coat of paint and tackle some other issues around the park, including cleaning up garbage left behind by thoughtless users.
Madison Township Administrator Larry Advey said he appreciates what Mitchell and the other Scouts are doing.
“We always appreciate it when young people in the community step forward and do this kind of project,” Advey said. “It’s a plus for the township. It shows the quality of the folks we have living here.”
Mitchell said he spent about two months putting together the plan, getting it approved, obtaining the donations of materials and lining up volunteers. Two work sessions were held to prep the building for its fresh coat of paint, which Sherwin Williams is donating.
Mitchell estimates that it will take about 20 gallons of paint and primer to get the job done.
“I think he picked the biggest pavilion in Lake County,” says Don Rogers, a Troop 785 committee member who volunteered with the project.
The pavilion measures 40 feet by 108 feet. All of the posts are being scraped, cleared of nails and staples and primed before painting. The entire building was power washed prior to painting.
Elsewhere on the township park grounds, Mitchell and his fellow scouts replaced about 10 of the rails in the fence around the property. Carter Lumber of Madison donated the materials.
Mitchell says he got serious about his Scouting commitment about two years ago and began working toward Eagle Scout.
He hopes to wrap up the project in September. He’s had as many as 15 Scouts, friends and family members working on the project at one time. Now that school is back in session, he’s finding that it is more difficult to assemble a crew of workers on school nights. The shorter days aren’t helping, either.
He’s balancing the project with his own school work and extracurriculars in cross country and track. He says the biggest challenge he’s faced with the project was lining up the donations of supplies and getting people who could spare a few hours to work on the project.
The pavilion will still require a substantial amount of work even after Mitchell’s project is done. The roof is badly deteriorated, and Madison Trustees have applied for grant money to fix it. Mitchell won’t be involved in that effort, however.
“That’s a whole other project,” he said.
Currents
Related Photos
-
CARL E. FEATHER / Star Beacon MITCHELL FARNSWORTH has adopted the pavilion and fence at Madison Township Park for his Eagle Scout project. He is a member of Troop 785, which is helping with the big task.
Discussion
Pavilion for an Eagle
Eagle Scout project has Madison Township Park in its clutches
- Currents
-
-
The Main legacy
Despite the devastating loss in the Tyrone, Pa., train wreck of May 30, 1893, Walter L. Main quickly rebuilt his circus and kept virtually all of its engagements beyond Tyrone.
-
Tragedy at McCann’s Crossing
Frank Train had grown wearly of traveling with the Walter L. Main Monster Show, based in Geneva City and Trumbull Township.
-
Geneva’s ‘Main’ attraction
Elephants, tigers, lions and horses.
-
Railroad, disaster birthed hospital
The Great Lakes shipping industry in the mid-1800s was fraught with losses of both human life and property.
-
Locomotive overboard!
In the history of railroading in Northeast Ohio, it was a matter of poetic justice paid forward.
-
Was Effie Neely on the Pacific Express No. 5?
Was Effie Neely the last survivor of the Ashtabula Bridge Disaster when she died in 1960 at the age of 101?
-
Ashtabula Horror left many interesting crumbs on history’s table
Over the past century, many stories relating to the Ashtabula Bridge Disaster, Dec. 29, 1876, have emerged. Here is a sampling of these tales as we wrap up the first 65 years of Ashtabula County history in our Odd Tales series.
-
The Ashtabula Horror
One hundred thirty-five years after the Ashtabula Horror occurred, the facts of the event are well established, yet mists of mystery and stains of shame remain.
-
A trial run for death
John D. Rockefeller had never missed a train until Dec. 18, 1867.
-
Success born of grief
Grief is a stalker. It lurks in every idle moment, in every familiar corner, always ready to pierce the heart bruised by loss.
- More Currents Headlines
-
