CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — Nicholas Cherico, a Junior at Clarion Area High School and a member of Clarion Boy Scout Troop 51, recently finished his Eagle Scout Project on Main Street in Clarion. He has been in scouting since 3rd grade starting as a Bear Scout under the leadership at the time of Den Leader Bonnie Hubauer.
Nick recalls those years to be the “learning years” because his den leader with a huge heart tried to “recruit and rekindle scouting” in our area. They started with a small den, and a few fathers would appear and help her out, but she did a lot of work every week to keep their Pack going. Nick had many pinewood derbies, fishing, Flag Retirement Ceremonies, campouts, and banquets.
Nick crossed over into Boy Scouts with his den, and the den leader was right there with him. He had lots of adventures, earned merit badges, and the troop was growing. They had new faces along the way; Scoutmaster Woody Whitling, in particular, took the time to learn quickly how to help guide young boys in a troop. He kept them active with events. With lots of yearly recruitments, the troop is typically 28 scouts. Now, the group has Assistant Scoutmasters helping resulting in a solid, well-rounded adult committee who helps keep the program flowing with tracking of advancement records, and — of course — troop finances. Everyone is helpful in the program.
Nick has ranked up through the years, holding the senior patrol leader position twice and once as assistant senior patrol leader for over a year and a half in the troop. Turning a Life Scout in January of 2014, he has completed the remaining Eagle required merit badges and started his project. As the Scout Oath encourages, Nick stays physically strong with the high school summer FAST program that continues through football season, and he participates in Track and Field. With those activities, plus the maintaining of a high academic record, Nick also participates in high school activities such as Student Council, Band, Choir, Clarion Singers, Robotics and Science Olympiad.
This summer Nick also volunteered to learn more about the medical field. He keeps pretty busy, knowing that when he attends college, these days will no longer be, and he will be hitting the books to hopefully earn a medical degree.
His Eagle Scout project included research, design, and installation of two Historical Interpretive Panels, with one location at the corner of the Courthouse at 5th and Main Street and the other between the Clarion Free Library and the Clarion Area Chamber of Business & Industry office front sidewalk area.
Both locations display different stories of Clarion’s history by providing pictures and articles of past establishments and structures that found their way onto Main Street. Last summer in August of 2015, Nick reached out to the Clarion Area Chamber of Business and Industry to serve as his beneficiary for the Eagle Scout project. With the support from the Clarion Chamber Board of Directors, Pam Goble, Clarion Borough, Clarion Library, Clarion County Commissioners, and Troop 51 committee members,
The future Eagle Scout started to present his project idea to local businesses and organizations to generate the much-needed support. For the next six months, Nick attended meeting after meeting, and with the gracious support from the community, he generated enough awareness to carry out his project.
“Without the people in the community who believed so much in the project, you would not see the panels installed today. The Clarion community, Chamber members, as well past Clarion citizens who currently live out of state contacted me or the chamber for several months,” explains Nick.
Once he had enough funds, Nick began working with Mary Lea Lucas from the Clarion County Historical Society to gather the information and pictures that would go on the panels.
“Mary Lea Lucas is truly an amazing person. She knows a lot about Clarion, and she made time for me even when she was busy with family matters. The historical society is truly a unique place in Clarion. There is an infinite amount of information on everything in Clarion County. After going through this journey, I encourage everyone to stop in and visit and explore the priceless history. I also had the pleasure of working with local historians Hank Hufnagel and Kevin Beichner. Both of these men have hours and hours of stories and pictures and have an amazing amount of information. All three of these people, who worked on my team for several months, contributed to the success of my scout project. I am blessed that they were a very patient and helpful team as this project was a long haul.”
Once Nick’s panels were designed and proofread countless times by his team, he sent them to his manufacturer Pannier Graphics in Gibsonia, who recently worked with other local county agencies on similar projects. After placing his order, Nick contacted M&B Services about the concrete for the project.
“Mike Hindman (of M&B Services) met with me numerous times to go over the project. He was happy to help me out and scheduled it with his other jobs. If I ever needed anything, Mike was a phone call away. After all the wicked weather, we were able to find a beautiful week to start, which happened to be when my troop was away at our first week of summer camps. I was able to find a few scouts still in the area that were signed up for the troops second summer camp. Thankfully, they brought their dads to help dig up the dirt, so we could pour cement. I worked with very knowledgeable employees from M&B Services until completion.”
“I am still in awe at how supportive the community has been, as much as this project was a historical initiative project, it is equally an opportunity to strengthen our small town merchants by attracting visitors to get out and walk Main Street, read the panels, and hopefully stop and shop locally.”
“Thank you to everyone who contributed and helped me on my journey to becoming an Eagle Scout. It has been an adventure, struggle, and HUGE LEARNING EXPERIENCE. I hope everyone enjoys them.”
Photo courtesy of M and B Services LLC / M and B Redi-Mix, INC.
