TINTON FALLS – Boy Scout Matthew Matula, 15, who has attained the rank of Life Scout, presented photographs of a community project he undertook, a garden restoration carried out at the historic Crawford House, to borough officials and members of the community on June 12.
Matthew, a sophomore at Monmouth Regional High School, said he revived and restored the surrounding area of the historic site with the help of 81 volunteers from the community. Matthew said he is hoping to eventually earn the rank of Eagle Scout.
“One of the adult leaders in my Boy Scout troop brought the idea (to revive the Crawford House property) to me. It’s an older house, so there is always a lot that needed to be done there,” he said.
Matthew and other members of Troop 49 planted a community garden, renovated existing flower beds, created water drainage paths and mulched trails behind the Crawford House. He said it took 280 hours of labor to complete the project.
“I’ve gotten a lot of responses from people who plant in the community garden, they were helping as I was doing my project. They are really happy with what I turned the area into … Unfortunately, there are a lot of historic places that aren’t kept up to date, so I thought I did my part in keeping this community garden more organized and keeping up with the outside appearance of the house,” he said.
Matthew said he values the leadership skills he has developed as he continues to climb the ranks toward becoming an Eagle Scout.
Council President Gary Baldwin thanked Matthew for the contribution he and his fellow scouts have made to the community. Baldwin said volunteers like Matthew “save dollars and time, and allow borough officials to do the things that need to be done, while (Boy Scouts) carry this kind of load for us.”