Bladen Journal

Boy Scout Troop 600 volunteers spruce library grounds

Special to The Bladen Journal

ELIZABETHTOWN — Aiden Rush and Tucker Bordeaux approached their scoutmaster Andy Runion, asking him to make sure their names were down for a specific landscaping project at the Bladen County Public Library in Elizabethtown. Runion assured them they were.

Aiden, 15, and Tucker, 14, both ninth-graders at West Bladen High School, spent more than four hours on a recent Saturday morning sprucing outside areas around the library. With about 10 fellow scouts from Troop 600, they tackled a variety of landscaping chores.

The two want to use the beautification project to earn their Eagle Scout honors. They claimed dibs on the seating area between the library and the Elizabethtown-White Lake Area Chamber of Commerce that faces North Cypress Street. Their plans include replacing boards in the benches and painting them. They also want to replace gravel in the walkways in that area as well as the bordering bricks, and trimming existing plants and adding new ones.

Runion said he had no problems getting volunteers. When he asked them at a recent scout meeting, about 20 hands shot up. Due to work and other conflicts, only about 10 were able to come out and work on weeding, planting, raking and trimming.

“Any time we can give back to the community, we are happy to do it. The community has definitely given a lot to us,” he said, adding that he hopes those who could not make it then can help with future landscaping projects at the library.

The work day was scheduled by the Friends of the Bladen County Public Library. FOTL co- chairman Tammie Herring said asking Runion and the scouts was an easy solution to getting some extra assistance.

“I was trying to get some community involvement because (the library) is a public place,” she said, and she couldn’t have been more pleased with what the young men were able to accomplish. “I was shocked — I mean pleasantly surprised and overwhelmed with their generosity and overall care,” she added.

“It warmed my heart.”

Another scout, Hutchens Glenn, signed up to work on the block wall around the courtyard at the back of the library. Hutchens, a 12-year-old seventh-grader at Harrells Christian Academy, surveyed the area and plans to pressure wash the fence and maintain the area it encloses. The work will help him meet his Star Service Project Requirements.

“This is my opportunity to take on a project and help out the community like they have been helping us,” he said.

To illustrate his point, he mentioned a fundraiser Troop 600 sponsored last fall, the Big Doe Roundup. Their goal was to raise $10,000, but community support was so good they brought in more than $17,000. It allowed the troop to purchase a trailer for transporting their equipment and upgrading its appearance with an eye-catching personalized exterior.

Runion said the troop also upgraded a ton of its camping equipment and provided support to several scouts for their service projects as well as paying for this summer’s camp in July.

“The support of Elizabethtown and Bladen County was jaw-dropping,” Runion reaffirmed, adding that members of the community also benefited because nearly 30 deer were processed, and the venison was distributed to people in need. It encouraged the troop to raise their goal this fall.

“This year we want to try to raise enough to finance a trip to the National Boy Scout Jamboree in 2023,” Runion said.