Scout looking to soar with cleanup

Greg Varga to help trees flourish

By: Madeleine Johnson
   As a Boy Scout and a volunteer firefighter, South Brunswick High School student Greg Varga knows a thing or two about giving back to his community.
   Now, as the 17-year-old draws closer to finishing his Eagle Scout service project, he’s reaching out for volunteers to help him clear brush this weekend at the Flemer Arboretum so that he can do even more for his hometown of Kingston.
   "There’s a certain species of tree that is at the site — I’m pretty sure it’s the witch-hazel — and it’s being taken over by other species and scrub trees," Greg explained. "We’re basically taking out all the alien trees so the trees that are supposed to be there can flourish and survive."
   The Flemer Arboretum, on Mapleton Road, is part of the D&R Canal State Park and adjacent to the Mapleton Preserve, and was built on a portion of the old Princeton Nurseries. The dedication ceremony for the arboretum was April 2006, and it is still being developed at this time.
   Much of what Greg has been working on involves clearing brush away from the trees that he’s been trying to save.
   "Basically, we’re taking out brush and saplings and small brush around the trees," he said. "There’s huge piles of stuff. If you go down there, you can see piles that are 7 or 8 feet high, about 7 feet wide and maybe 100 feet long."
   Greg credits his time spent with the Boy Scouts and his own appreciation of nature as the inspiration for his project.
   "The Scouts are outdoors a lot, and I pretty much always liked nature and visiting parks and stuff like that. I sort of saw my project as helping out in a park," Greg said.
   Greg saw that a few organizations were working to keep the native trees from being overtaken by invading species, which also encouraged him to work with the arboretum.
   "In Kingston, there’s a few societies or groups that are passionate about that site and I think that they needed help to start getting the site back on track to making it better and letting these trees in the park flourish."
   Having already devoted 125 hours to the project between manual work, paperwork, planning, and running supply fundraisers, Greg estimates that about half of the work has been completed.
   "I started planning in the fall, but the physical work I started this June. We’re probably halfway done and getting toward the end," he said.
   Greg is quick to credit the success of his project to his friends, fellow Scouts and other volunteers who have offered their assistance.
   "I’ve had help from the Scouts and other people. It makes me feel good that people could rally behind this project and work with me to get it done," he said. "You can see that when you all work together it just makes everything better. It’s impractical and would be really hard to do it all by yourself."
   Local environmental organizations have even stepped in to help with the service project.
   "I had a couple people from the Princeton Greenways and Friends of Princeton Nurseries tell me I was doing a good job, and a couple people from those groups offered their help," Greg said.
   Even though he began the manual labor last month, Greg and others have already seen a difference in the Flemer Arboretum.
   "People around the community are noticing it and thanking me for the job I’ve done," he said. "The park is split into sections, and I finished the first section, I’m pretty much done with the second section and now I’m on the last section of the park. You can definitely tell the difference because the trees are standing by themselves."
   Because of all the preparation work that goes in to an Eagle Scout project before it can even begin, including organizing his volunteers, Greg said he has learned a lot about being a leader and that teamwork is essential to success.
   "I’ve learned that a lot of things come up and you’ll need to know how to problem solve, you need to think everything through. Planning is important," he said. "I’ve also learned that a lot of times you need to work together and get people to help you finish. You really can’t do a lot of things without your troop. It’s almost like running a business with no co-workers."
   Greg has been in the Boy Scouts since grade school. While he left the organization for a year, Greg was drawn back by his desire to earn the rank of Eagle Scou.
   "I’d say my favorite part is working on the Eagle project," he said. "Everyone has their different things that benefit not only themselves, but also the community. However long you work on your project, that just makes the community so much better."
   Greg will be working on the Flemer Arboretum on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 8:30 a.m. and will be there all day. Anyone who is interested in helping Greg can contact him at (609) 688-0234 or [email protected].
   "My goal is to get at least 10 volunteers," he said. "Even if you can lend a hand for half a day, it would help greatly."