My Eagle Scout project was building new A-frame swinging benches for Camp Allen in Bedford, NH. A previous scout had built their original swinging benches for his Eagle Scout project, but over time these were starting to break down. These swinging benches are loved by the campers and are often used all day long during camp season.

To raise funds for my project, I held a bake sale at Harvest Market in Bedford. My original goal was to raise enough money to build 2 swinging benches. My bake sale was very successful and I was able to raise enough money to build 3 benches!

A challenge I had in completing my project was trying to locate the plans of the original swinging benches. I was able to reach out to the Eagle Scout who built them, but he was not able to locate the plans. So I looked online and found a similar set of plans that didn’t quite look the same, but the end result was still great.

I had a great turnout on my work project day. Everyone who came to help was motivated and committed to helping me complete my project. I had school friends, fellow scouts, family friends and even scouts from my old troop, Troop 77 in Canton MA, show up to help. Everyone worked very hard and as a result, I was able to build all 3 swinging benches in one workday, instead of the two that I had originally scheduled.

A week later, with friends and family, I delivered all 3 swinging benches to Camp Allen. It was great to see them get put to use right away since camp was in session.

In total, I spent about 120 hours total working on my Eagle Scout project, including the time friends, family and fellow scouts contributed to help me.

I would like to thank everyone who helped me through this process including fellow scouts, friends, family and especially my parents, and Ron Carvolho, my mentor.

by Rylan Morgan