ATHOL — As other students geared up for summer vacation, a local Boy Scout from Athol painted roughly 100 fire hydrants throughout town as part of his Eagle Scout Service Project.
“I wanted to show that the youth is really involved in the community in a good way — so I thought I’d help out as much as I could,” Gabriel Roberts said.
To earn the Eagle Scout rank, the highest achievement attainable in Boy Scouts, an individual must fulfill various requirements in areas of leadership, service and outdoor skills. Completing an Eagle Scout Service Project is also a requirement to attain the rank.
Roberts has been a Boy Scout for the past eight years. A fellow Scout in one of his previous troops completed the same project when he was younger. This inspired Roberts, now 18, to give it a go.
Troop leader David Wornham said Eagle Scout service projects are ones each Boy Scouts takes on themselves. In order to initiate his project, Roberts spoke with Douglas Walsh, superintendent of Athol’s Department of Public Works. Roberts said Walsh appeared excited about his project and assisted him by donating the necessary materials.
Assistant Superintendent Dick Kilhart said he was enthusiastic upon hearing about the project because it reminded him of his early start in the department. At 14, Kilhart said, he landed a seasonal job in Orange painting fire hydrants for that town’s water department. Also an Eagle Scout, he said the projects each Boy Scout completes teach them valuable life lessons.
“It teaches young men a sense of pride and commitment to the community — all of those things associated with being a scout,” he said.
Roberts said the entire project, from preparation to completion, took around two weeks. This involved two days of scrapping the fire hydrants, braving some rainy days to prime them, then painting the 100 hydrants. He found some fire hydrants to be in rough shape.
“There were a few that I was going through that I never noticed in my life. I think it helps to be able to see where they are now and to brighten up the town, to make it look newer,” said Roberts.
His friends, sister and several Boy Scout troop members assisted Roberts throughout the process.
Roberts plans to join the U.S. Navy in August and said thanks to his Eagle Scout service project and receiving the highest rank from the Boy Scouts, he is able to obatain a higher rank.
“Being an Eagle Scout will show that I know a lot more for only being 18 years old,” he said.