Photos & updates

September 29, 2023

This was my first visit to the site outside of the Autistic Support classrooms at the Colonial Early Learning Center. This visit gave me the full scope of what was possible and helped me plan a sensory friendly outdoor space. 

Since the site was a blank slate, I could do almost anything I imagined, as long as the shed remained. From the start, I knew that I wanted to make two play areas - one in front of the shed and one behind the shed. I also wanted to make some sort of sensory walkway to connect to the classrooms. 

More importantly, I wanted to remove the orange fiberglass pipe, but didn't want to make it part of my project proposal in case I couldn't make that happen.

5/7/24

After all of the paperwork revisions and approvals through Minsi Trails BSA Council, I am finally able to begin my fundraising efforts. The very first place I have reached out to is TeenWorks, a Division of the United Way of the Lehigh Valley. They awarded me a grant in the amount of $1,500!! 

I am thrilled as this is more than I expected, and it really starts to get some momentum going in my fundraising efforts. 

I also met some very kind people there who offered other assistance. The people I am meeting in the community through this project are simply amazing, encouraging, giving individuals! 

It feels like this is a LONG time in the making, but here we are with my first fundraiser to kick-off my Eagle Scout Project. I am hopeful that this clothing drive will provide the funds needed to start the train feature early this summer. I have had so much support from our entire community on this that I am hopeful it will earn $1,000 toward starting this project. 

I really have so many people who helped me with this - Dryland UCC, fellow scout families, neighbors, local schools, and the entire community!! I am so thankful!!!

 6/24/24

I went to talk to Home Depot and Lowe's to get donations for the project and Home Depot came through TWICE! 

Once with a $100 shopping spree at the Home Depot on Linden Street in Bethlehem and the second time, I was given a $50 community improvement certificate by the Home Depot on 25th Street in Easton. 

Every bit helps me get closer to finishing this project and I am grateful for any community support! 

On 6/29/24 I held a successful clothing drive that earned $675 toward completing my Eagle Project. Although it was short of my ideal goal of $1,000, it is still a great amount toward completing the train feature. That will be the first phase of the project to start. Photos of that phase and more info will follow. 

I am grateful to everyone who helped directly, dropped off clothing, or simply helped spread the word. 

7/21/24 - 7/23/24

I have acquired all of the wood! The majority came from A.D. Moyer Lumber. A few pieces had to be purchased from Home Depot, as Moyer Lumber did not have non-pressure treated deck boards. 

The past few days, I have been cutting the lumber from the professional plans I have purchased. Both of my parents and my friend Ryan across the street have been extremely helpful. I look forward to the next steps in sanding and painting it to make it feel like it is actually coming together to make a train feature! 


Beginning in early August, I was able to start planning a Bingo Fundraiser with the help of the non-profit Every Ribbon Counts and Dryland UCC who allowed me to use the church facility. 

My part of the preparation is getting 21 BINGO prize baskets and selling as many tickets as possible for the event. I was able to call a whole lot of businesses and many of them were generous and donated giftcards and prize items. Companies that donated are: Shammy Shine, Josh Early Candies, Red Robin, Shop Rite, Regal Theaters, Sheetz, Iron Pigs, Tuscana's Pizza, Starbucks, Tips To Toes Salon, and The Spot Drive-In. I was able drive all around town and pick up donations, while my mom made them into gift baskets and made them look great. 

I was able to sell a lot of tickets and after the event concluded, I raised over $1,200 toward the play area at Colonial Early Learning Center. 


8/21/24 & 8/22/24

I am starting the process of cutting and sanding the wood to build the train feature from the professional plans I have. My parents and my friend, Ryan who lives next door were also a big help. 

I am excited for things to really start being constructed for the project site. 

8/30/24

I met with Mr. Phil Gianficaro of Lehigh Valley News. He seemed genuinely interested in my story and why I chose Colonial IU20's Early Intervention Program as the beneficiary for my Eagle Scout Project. 

I am eager to see the story and hopeful that it brings some attention to the vital services provided to preschool children at Colonial Early Learning Center.


8/30/24

On August 30th, I was very busy. After my interview with Phil Gianficaro, I went to the worksite to measure out the areas to be excavated. Me and my family went to stake and rope off the areas to clearly mark the walkways, train area, and the area for playset to be excavated. 

These photos also give an idea of what the site looked like prior to the start of any work being started onsite. 

8/31/24

I had my first workday at my house with our Boy Scout Troop 76 and some of my neighborhood friends. 

We were primarily working on sanding and painting the wood pieces to build the train. I had a lot of help and made quite a bit of progress.  


9/6/24

The playset was delivered. We got notification that the excavator is very delayed, which means that we will have to store the playset in our garage for quite a bit. 

However, we are glad to actually have the playset, as it was out of stock and back ordered for quite a few months. 

9/8/24

My second workday at my house with Boy Scout Troop 76 and we started to make real progress on building the train. 

9/14/24

I am actively looking for someone to take this pipe and getting measurements for someone who may want it to solve a drainage issue on their property. However, the pipe is way too large to meet their needs, so I am still looking for a way to get the pipe removed from the site. 

Although it is not part of my original project plan, I have a goal of getting rid of this pipe, since the children are unable to play near it and it is an overall eyesore to the site.   

9/15/24 - The Capital Blue Grant is Awarded

The $2,500 Capital Blue Grant was the largest single grant that I was awarded toward completing the project at Colonial IU 20 Early Learning Center (CELC). The grant information was brought to me by Gregg Potter and thankfully, Dr. Christopher Wolfel, the Executive Director at Colonial IU 20 was able to complete the necessary info just under the deadline to be considered. One recipient is selected for the Live Healthy School Grant and I was notified in June 2024 that my project was selected!! I was thrilled and grateful, as the bump in funds really made the high cost of this project, seem within reach! The funds were awarded in mid-Septemeber 2024, just as I was really getting started with purchasing big ticket items. Perfect timing.


9/25/24

I was able to complete a walkthrough with the excavating team and quite a few things were discovered, such as two large pipe caps in the path where I proposed the walkway to go and a suspected cinder block foundation underground where the playset is to be placed. From this site walkthrough and the engineer's plans, quite a few changes were necessary, but feasible. BASD had their engineers from DEI come out and make formal plans for excavation and drainage. 

The excavation was provided at no cost by the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 542 who volunteered TWO DAYS of their time to get the excavating complete.

Thanks to Gregg Potter, Jim Irwin, Rob Fulmer, Ed Bates, and Dan Sullivan for their massive efforts to get me to this point. 

10/9/24

With the help of everyone at the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 542 excavating began, which helps to put me in a good position to complete the project within my target of the end of the year. 

These gentlemen volunteered their equipment, labor, and expertise. This was the largest single contribution as another excavator gave me a cost exceeding $5,000. Another excavator was willing to do it at cost for $2,800, but was not able to start the work until 2025. 

I am beyond grateful to everyone who was able to make this happen. 



10/10/24 

Day two of excavating started on a very chilly morning and luckily completed by mid-day on October 10th. 

I was so grateful to see the area excavated!! 

I was also beyond thrilled to see that the fiberglass pipe was also removed and would no longer be a hazzard or an eye sore on site! This made my day!! 

I cannot thank the IUOE, Local 542 enough and everyone who made the connections to make this happen - Gregg Potter, Jim Irwin, Rob Fulmer, Ed Bates, and Dan Sullivan. 

10/11/24 

I was able to get all of the rubber mulch delivered and visit the site to see the completed excavation. 

My mom and I made multiple trips for stone before we realized we were going to need a stone delivery, as we were going to need tons of stone. 

I was sure to take a picture where the large pipe was removed.  

10/12/24 

I started the process of removing paver stones from our back patio, since we are having a new concrete patio installed. 

I came up with the idea to repurpose these paver stones to use as the border for the sensory walkway at the Colonial Early Learning Center because they are in good shape and it will save a lot of money in materials. 

10/13/24 

My family and I spent another workday assembling and painting the wood pieces to make up the train feature. 

In the afternoon my neighborhood friends helped me bring all of the borders to Colonial Early Learning Center. It was quick trip onsite, as there were four of us uloading everything. 

10/14/24

I had a day off of school, so my mom and I worked at getting a stone base placed in the walkways. We also got stone delivery from Green Pond Nursery. By the end of the day we had a good base in all of the walkways. It is a small part of the project, but it was a long, hard workday. 

 

10/17/24 

I was fortunate enough to have A.J. Trunzo & Sons lay the underground drainage pipe in the area of the playset. The special order drainage pipe and connections from Home Depot arrived the day prior and I was able to get all the drainage pipe and the T-connections on site the night before. 

The guys at A.J. Trunzo were finished in one day and I was very relieved because I am eager to begin the process of installing borders, stone base, screening, and the playset.   

10/18/24

I was able to get 12 tons of screening from the great people at Bauder Brothers in Bath, PA on very short notice and reasonably priced. This screening material will help us fill in and level the areas of the sensory walkway, the playset, and the area for the train. 

10/20/24

I had a lightly attended work day, as our Troop was already committed to the Bethlehem Running Festival on Sunday, 10/20 but I did have some help.

At this stage in the workflow, I am glad for any help because although a lot has been done since the start of October, this site looks far from an outdoor play space. 

My biggest help on this day was my neighbor coming to the site to offer some guidance and muscle with placing the large playground borders. 

10/26/24 - 10/27/24

The playset being in place really makes it start to feel like a kids play area. Although it seemed pretty straight forward to assemble and install, it came with a few challenges, some related to completing the border that had a large boulder in the way. 

With the generator and electric jackhammer, the boulder issue was remedied and the playset is complete. 

While we were assembling the playset, Tony Salamone conducted a brief interview for the Morning Call and his photographer April took pictures for the article.

11/3/24 

This work day is focusing on getting the one small      L-section of the sensory walkway border complete and the rubber border that surrounds the future train area.  

11/6/24 

Continuing work on the longest section of the sensory walkway. This is hard work!

I am finding it quite worthwhile because with each workday the site is looking more and more like my vision for this space. 

11/10/24 

This is my biggest workday with my Boy Scout Troop 76. My neigbors, the Preletz family were also a huge help with getting all of the rubber mulch in place in the area of the Lifetime Playset. 

There were three main areas that needed to be simultaneously worked on, so one adult was assigned to each area, with my role being there for oversight and available for questions that arose. 

It was amazing to see things really taking shape in one day. It is incredible to see what can be accomplished with a team of people!  

11/11/24

With another day off of school, my family worked for the majority of the rainy day working on placing plastic borders to help hold the paver stones in place and prevent shifting, as they are used. 

We also worked at continuing the walkway, as it is still not completed. 

Also, on this day the Morning Call newspaper article was published and I was featured on the FRONT PAGE. I never expected that. I am honored to be featured on the front page, sharing that space with our nations Veterans!

11/16/24 

We have been so lucky that the weather has worked in our favor so my family and I can keep working toward completing the sensory walkways. 

I was also able to finish some touch ups to the train, but for the most part my mom is the painter. 

11/23/24 

We put some minor finishing touches on the train - handles, steering wheel, yellow doorway headers, and benches surrounding. It is starting to all come together now.  

11/30/24 

I was able to get a topsoil delivery in time for a workday November 30th. I asked for help from anyone across the Internet and had lots of people show up to help us with getting the topsoil placed. 

This is one of the final steps to completion. 

12/8/24

My family and I put down straw and grass seed and hung the sponsorship sign to finish off the space. 

We will be back in early spring to complete any finishing touches before the ribbon cutting ceremony.