Winchendon Eagle Scout's project honors military families: What he did

A Toy Town Scout has chosen to honor the community’s military families for his Eagle Scout project.

Daniel Maine Jr., a member of Scouts BSA Troop 193 in Winchendon, will unveil two monuments honoring the town’s Gold Star and Blue Star families in Grout Park just in time for Memorial Day. A Gold Star family is one that has lost a loved one during war, while Blue Star families are those with a loved one currently serving during war.

“I feel like that, especially recently, awareness and courtesy for veterans in general has disappeared,” Maine said. “I wanted to bring awareness to those Gold Star families we have in town, because we do have three, I think.”

Maine, who is a sophomore at Oakmont Regional High School , has an older brother, Johnathon Maine, who is currently serving as a sergeant in the Army. He said the idea for the monuments came about after an initial plan to clean veteran graves in the community proved to be too time-consuming to be practical for his Eagle Scout project.

“There would have been a lot of things to go through with the town regarding who owns each gravestone, and having to contact each individual for permission, so I decided against that,” he said.

Scout worked closely with town on project

After presenting his new proposal to town officials and receiving their approval, Maine worked closely with employees at the Department of Public Works to determine a location for his monuments. He said he was pleased with the reaction he received from the town.

“Every single person has loved it,” he said. “Even residents in town, including family and friends, have wanted to know when I was working on the project so that they could come and help. People have been so supportive.”

Maine, who said he intends to join the Air Force after graduation, singled out DPW Director Brian Croteau for assistance with all stages of the project.

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“He’s been a huge help,” Maine said.

The monuments, two engraved granite slabs, will rest on an a landscaped bed of flowers in Grout Park.

“The project was well planned out, and it was nice to see a group come together to clean up a park and install a new planter bed with the memorial that Daniel designed and planned out,” Croteau said.

Cost of monuments raised via T-shirt sales, donations

A portion of the $5,000 needed to pay for the monuments was raised through a fundraiser during which Maine sold T-shirts. The red shirts, which were on sale online and at various local events, were emblazoned with the acronym ‘R.E.D.,’ which he said stood for ‘Remember Everyone Deployed.’

“So what you would do was wear red on Fridays to remember all of the soldiers deployed overseas,” he said.

He said he brought in about $3,000 in sales, while the rest of the funds came in through donations, including some from a local Gold Star father and the Winchendon American Legion Post 193.

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“I was very surprised at just how many T-shirts I sold, and the amount of donations and the amount of support people gave,” he said.

Troop 193 Scoutmaster Andy Spivey said it was likely that Maine's monument project was the first of its kind in the state.

"Being a retired U.S. Navy veteran, I can think of no better way to honor our service members and military families than by establishing these two monuments here in Winchendon," he said. "Daniel's fundraising efforts were definitely impressive as this project required a great deal of capital for the purchase of the two monuments and other materials."

Town Manager Bill McKinney, himself an Eagle Scout, said he was happy that Maine decided to use his project to honor local military families.

“Winchendon has a proud history of supporting our military veterans and families, and his project is another permanent reminder of those who make sacrifices for our country,” McKinney said.

The unveiling ceremony in Grout Park will begin at 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 26.

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Winchendon Eagle Scout's project honors military families: What he did