Boy Scout rebuilds wall at church

Londonderry

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May 2, 2008

By Julio Tejeda

LONDONDERRY — With senior year in high school comes many headaches.

The pressure of college applications and acceptances for those who want to continue their education is a good example of the time squeeze seniors face.

With that constant pressure, many students don't have time to enjoy their senior year or be involved in other activities. But Londonderry High's Ian Conn, 17, has dedicated much of his senior year to rebuilding a retaining wall at St. Peter's Church.

And he's done it as his Eagle Scout project.

"It feels great to be an Eagle Scout, and to help out the community is pretty cool," he said, while also admitting that it looks good on a college application.

Conn said the project is nearly finished. According to Scout rules, the project has to be completed by his 18th birthday on Aug. 4. He said that it has been part of his life for the last year-and-a-half. He had to get all the details right even before starting the work on the church itself.

Conn says that the project is at the top of his list.

"Right now (it) is number one on my priorities list – to get it done before I go to college because I'm almost 18," he said.

Conn decided to do his project on St. Peter's, the church his family attends, because the wall on one side of the church was already tilting a little before flooding caused additional damage, tilting it more.

"My family goes to this church and so does the community. I asked them if they needed anything to get done, and they said that the wall was falling over, so I took the job," Conn said.

Church members are well aware of the effort, hard work and dedication that Conn has brought to the project.

"It is a great effort and job; he did a stellar job," said Emery Freethey, director of music at St. Peter's. "It was something that needed to get done and he volunteered."

To raise money, Conn sold scrap aluminum.

"I decided to collect cans and scraps of aluminum, because the price of it has gone up to around 65 cents per pound," he said.

Other Scouts, church members, friends and families helped Conn with the fundraiser. He couldn't believe the number of volunteers who were willing to help him accomplish his goal.

"I had (nearly a dozen) people come. A lot of the people that came to help were standing around, because more people showed up than what I had expected," he said.

To complete the project, he needed to raise $260 and ended up raising well over $700. Conn said that he plans to donate the rest of the money to a charity.

Conn described the project as a good learning experience. He said he learned how to organize a fundraiser and set up a project.

"It's really good for leadership, learning how much goes into doing a project like this," he said.