Eagle Scout installs fencing for HAB Community Garden
Mason Hicks
Thanks to the efforts of Mason Lane Hicks and his team, the fruits and vegetables growing in the community garden at Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church are no longer at risk of being trampled during baseball season.
Hicks, a rising freshman in the International Baccalaureate program at Samuel Wolfson School for Advanced Studies, was awarded his Eagle designation by the Boy Scouts of America July 7. A Scout since first grade, he is a member of Troop 35, which is led by Scoutmaster Adam McDonough.
Inspired by his father, who was also an Eagle Scout, Hicks is the son of Tim and Joy Hicks of San Marco, and recently finished eighth grade at Julia Landon College Preparatory School.
Earning 23 merit badges along the way, the 14-year-old received his Eagle rank after installing picket fencing, an arbor gate and signage around the community garden adjacent to the baseball fields at HAB. The project took 122 hours to complete and cost approximately $850 to install.
Mason Hicks, Sam Davis and Colton Champion work on Hick’s Eagle Scout project at Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church.
“The hardest, but most rewarding, part of my journey to Eagle was my Eagle Scout project,” wrote Hicks in his Letter of Ambition. “Even though it was hard to keep up and manage all the pieces of my project, I was excited when it was completed, and I could see what I had in my head, to be a plan on paper and be able to see it ‘live’ right in front of me. I loved seeing the excitement it brought to my church and community and know that it will help solve some of the problems they were experiencing.”
HAB utilizes the garden as a quiet, sacred space for meditation and reflection. Also used as a teaching place for children in the church’s Little Friends Preschool, it produces vegetables for church dinners and weekly donations of fresh food to UCOM, which serves the needy in the community.
To complete the project, Hicks consulted with General Contractor Roger McFarland, who volunteered his labor, and worked with seven members of his troop and 10 volunteers from the community and church.
When asked what advice he would give to future Scouts working toward their Eagle designation, Hicks said, “Stay determined, stay organized, and don’t procrastinate! You’ll learn a lot, make a lot of friends, and accomplish many goals. It’s hard, but totally worth it in the end!”
By Marcia Hodgson
Resident Community News
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