Life Scout Project Spruces Up Library

By Laurie Borst

Daniel Cragin, entering Newtown High School this fall, has been working on the requirements for the Boy Scouts’ Life Scout Award. Life Scout is the award below Eagle Scout.

The requirements for attaining Life Scout include earning a specific number of badges, holding a leadership position in the troop, holding the Star Scout award for a minimum of six months, and planning and completing a community service project.

“Originally, I was going to do a project at the center where my troop meets,” Daniel explained. “But then I came to the library and saw that the railings were in really bad condition. So I wrote a letter to the library board, which approved the project. You could say I bumped into the project.”

Daniel has spent many summer evenings and Sundays working on the railings, when the library was closed. He had to scrape all the surfaces, prime, and then paint two coats. He repainted nine railings and three cement posts along the driveway.

A total of six hours of volunteer time is required for a Life Scout project. Daniel has put in 50 hours to complete the painting. He was required to see the project through from conception to the last stroke of paint.

Daniel had all ready earned the Star Scout award. The Star Scout award has similar requirements as the Life Scout, although the projects are usually on a smaller scale.

To achieve Eagle Scout, Boy Scouting’s highest award, there are badge requirements, leadership in the troop, and time as a Life Scout. The project requirement is on a much larger scope, requiring the scout to plan all phases of the project and find and lead others to help.

Daniel, the son of Kevin and Kathy Cragin, has been involved with Boy Scouts since kindergarten when he joined Cub Scouts. For the past four years, he has been a member of Boy Scout Troop 70.