Although many people in Bordentown use the pedestrian bike path at Luyber Field for leisure and exercise activities, local boy scout Davin Eget, noticed a necessary enhancement the path could use–a spot to rest.
Eget an 18-year-old boy scout for Bordentown’s troop 13, decided to take action and utilize the opportunity to build a park bench for residents to enjoy the park and recreational area for his Eagle Scout project this past summer.
Wanting to construct a bench near the path, Eget said that when the idea came to mind, he felt the project could benefit people in the community as someone who enjoys the path himself.
“I walk around this bike path a lot and hang out in the fields there, and I was thinking, ‘Hey, there’s no benches around this path that a lot of people go around,’” Eget said. “A lot of elderly people walk around there too, so I thought, ‘Why not build a park bench and be able to rest here?’
“People could benefit from it to rest there while they’re walking or jogging around this path. It also faces the sunset too, so you can watch that as the sun goes down,” he added.
With the project goal in mind, Eget received approval from the Bordentown Township committee members to construct the pedestrian bench, but said he had to compromise and re-plan on a new location per the request of township officials.
Once a new location for the bench was agreed upon, Eget got to work, but his effort wasn’t a solitary one.
Local organizations and businesses such as Kiwanis, the Knights of Columbus, the American Legion and Home Depot helped contribute to Eget’s project, providing the necessary materials for the bench such as pavers, sand, plants, tools, concrete and composite material to prevent the bench from rotting and weather damage.
Along with the help from a team of workers made up of his fellow scouts, Eget said the project helped him influence the younger members in his troop.
“The whole point of the Eagle Scout project is to show leadership, so in leading other scouts – showing them and guiding them how to do the project, they’ll eventually know when they grow up how to do their project and what they have do as far as leadership goes,” Eget said.
Not only did Eget work to become a positive role model and influence on his troop, he said he personally benefited from the project as well in learning how to manage a team of workers.
“I learned how to lead and not to dominate the project or become bossy,” Eget said. “I learned how to encourage and show the younger scouts how to do things. You don’t tell them [what to do], you show them how to do the project.”
After two days of work on June 23 and 24, the project was completed with a newly installed bench along the path.
In recognition of his efforts, township mayor Stephen Benowitz and the committee members honored Eget with a proclamation at a meeting on Nov. 19.
“It felt pretty exciting and special to be honored,” Eget said.
As the completed bench now stands at Luyber Field to benefit people using the bike path, the project officially certified Eget’s Eagle Scout status.
With the project finished, Eget said he returned to the bench for several weeks after to provide small maintenance on it such as watering the plants around it.
Upon returning to the bench though, Eget noted that the structure serves as a symbol to his efforts as a scout.
“It stands as a monument of my achievements and helps out the community,” Eget said. “When I walked up to [the bench] after I was done, remembering what it looked like when there was nothing there, and all the hard work it took to build this – it felt pretty good to see the project completed.”