In pursuit of attaining his Eagle Scout rank, local teenager Sam Reynolds has decided to dedicate his service project to Gallant Woods Park in Delaware.
Reynolds, who is 15 years old and a student at Buckeye Valley High School, constructed three tables and benches that will be placed in the 231-acre Gallant Woods Park, which opened in 2005 and is part of the Preservation Parks of Delaware County network. The tables and benches will be presented to the park today.
A member of Boy Scout Troop 249 since first grade, Reynolds said he originally considered building benches for the pond at another Preservation Park, Blues Creek Park, a spot at which he often enjoys fishing, and a spot where he felt more seating could be utilized.
“My mom doesn’t have anywhere to sit (at the park), so I thought that would be a really good project,” Reynolds said. “And then I took that to them, but they said they didn’t really need benches there, so they gave me a couple of different options. The benches were really cool, so I wanted to stick with the benches and tables, so I chose that.”
Although he wasn’t familiar with Gallant Woods, specifically, Reynolds prioritized donating his project to Preservation Parks for the benefit of all who enjoy the network and nature as much as himself.
“We enjoy Preservation Parks a lot, and I thought it would be a great idea to help them. … I just really like what they do in preserving nature,” he said. “I really like the people. They’re all super nice, and they love nature just like me.”
Following the presentation, Reynolds will be on the cusp of attaining his Eagle Scout ranking with only the Board of Review interview left to complete. When he does finish the process, Reynolds will join a long line of family members who have achieved the Boy Scouts of America (BSA)’s highest rank.
“I’m very excited because my grandpa, my dad, and both my brothers are Eagles, so it’s a big thing,” Reynolds said. “I just think it’s really cool that we all get to share something together that not everybody else gets to share.”
Reynolds said his brothers have helped him in his pursuit of becoming an Eagle Scout, particularly in affording him the opportunity to learn from mistakes they made during their respective journeys. He’s even consulted his brothers about what to expect with the final interview process, although they’ve remained mum by design in order to let Reynolds experience it for himself.
Regardless of the lack of insight, Reynolds will head into the interview with confidence given his past experiences and how they’ve prepared him for his last step in the journey.
“I think it’ll be pretty good,” he said of the interview. “With every rank, as you move up, you have to do one, but they’re not quite this big. They’re all kind of like steps to help you get better at it.”
Until then, Reynolds is simply enjoying all the fun he can throughout the process, which has been in no shortage. Among his best experiences has been a trip to BSA’s St. Thomas Sea Base as well as numerous campouts. Reynolds said his service project has been equally fun in its own right, however, albeit for slightly different reasons.
“This project probably ranks pretty highly on the list of fun things because it’s finally your project and not somebody else’s that you’re going to help with. And it’s really important, at least to me,” he said.
Reynolds added, “I think it’s really cool to help out the community as much as I can.”
