Eagle Scout project paints the town red

By Doug Schroder Editor

 STILLMAN VALLEY – Last fall Stillman Valley Boy Scout Marcus Franke, of Troop 40, got an idea for his Eagle Scout project from Dean Insko of the Stillman Valley Public Works Department. Dean suggested the fire hydrants needed painting. From this Marcus got the idea to paint the town red. More specifically, he got the idea to re-paint all 80 of the village fire hydrants, which are painted red. He kicked the idea around for a while, and then in early winter he started moving forward with the project. He got a map of the village that showed where all 80 hydrants were. From that he divided the village into sections and then organized three different groups of scouts to cover assigned areas.

Before Marcus could do anything he had to seek approval of the project by the Blackhawk Area Council. The Council approved the project on Tuesday, April 7. On Saturday, April 11 Marcus set his plan in motion with paint and supplies provided by the Village. Marcus arrived at the predetermined meeting spot at 9:30 a.m. to prepare for the day. The other scouts arrived a little later and the project commenced at 10:30 a.m. On Marcus’ map he had the names of everyone involved in the project. Listed were Mr. Brada, Mr. Pearce, Mr. Trent, Mr. Enright, Andrew Pearce, Sal, Morgan, Mr. Havloick, Chris Oltmans, Drew Markham, Demetrius Markham, Matther Frank, Mr. Ruston, Julia Heckman, Cindy Franke and Harriet Markham.

In his organizing, Marcus made sure to include lunch for the volunteers in his project. Scout moms Julia Heckman, Cindy Franke and Harriet Markham served the lunch up.

All 80 fire hydrants in Stillman Valley were painted by the end of the day that day. It had been 15 years since the hydrants were last painted. It was done as an Eagle Scout project then, also.

St. Edwards Church, located on 11th Street in Rockford, sponsors Troop 40. The troop meets there every Tuesday night.