On Thursday October 14th I was featured in the local paper. Here is the newspaper article from The Star Banner, www.ocala.com, about my Eagle Scout project.
Scout’s project aims to refurbish part of history
By Andy Fillmore
Lucas Weakley selected an Eagle Scout project he hopes will inspire others to reach for scouting’s highest rank, just as he was uplifted by another Eagle.
“On a family vacation to St. Andrews State Park (near Panama City), I saw a plaque on a restored turpentine mill proclaiming it was an Eagle project,” Lucas, 14, said. He decided to restore a wooden building adjacent to a 1930s-era farmhouse on the grounds of the Silver River State Park.
The small building was in poor condition, and had it been demolished, history would have been discarded along with it. The scout’s project saved the building, part of the original cattle farm, to serve as a learning experience for visitors likely for years to come.
“Once we get interpretive signage, visitors will realize this is not just a shed; it is historic,” said assistant park manger Christine Dorrier.
Dorrier and Lucas explained that the original builders of the homestead likely erected the smaller building first as living quarters, possibly for several persons, while the main house was being built. Following completion of the main house, the smaller edifice was used for storage, as it is currently.
The neat white farmhouse once served as housing for the state park manager.
The wooden storage building restored in the Eagle project measures about 18 feet by 10 feet by 8 feet, and features a shingled roof and unusual flooring comprised of round wooden pieces.
Dorrier said the main farmhouse and project building are both on their original sites, and that relatives of the homesteading family still live in the area.
Lucas has collected photographs of the buildings, including an early 1930s view that shows a thin, young tree that nearly 80 years later towers over the location.
The farm site is near the park’s picnic area, just a short walk from the Cracker Homestead area on the neighboring Silver River Museum grounds.
Lucas has completed all requirements to attain the Eagle rank, an honor fewer than 5 percent of all Boy Scouts are awarded, according to the National Eagle Scout Association, and is slated to receive his medal on Nov. 20.
Although “self-motivated” to reach the goal, Lucas said the experience has been a family affair with support from his father Kent and mother Maggie since he began the journey in first grade as a Tiger Cub.
The scout’s grandfather, Jerry Weakley, hand-fashioned pull handles on the two large, swinging front doors of the restored building from raw material in a period style. The doors were reconstructed by a volunteer.
Lucas said his project required 216 1/2 hours and 17 volunteers to complete.
Lucas is a member of Troop 172, sponsored by Blessed Trinity Church. His father is Scoutmaster. He said he enjoyed earning the Shotgun Shooting merit badge and found Citizenship in the Nation to be the most arduous of the 35 badges he has garnered.
Lucas is in the Engineering and Manufacturing Institute of Technology program at Forest High School and said he enjoys blending “electronics with mechanics.” He has career aspirations in electrical and mechanical engineering and micro air vehicles.