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Taking a break, naturally

BY BRYNA ZUMER

Posted 11/04/09

Those walking or running along the western end of the Ma & Pa Trail have a spot to take a break, thanks to a Bel Air Eagle Scout.

Evan Steere, 15, has regularly used the new trail between the Equestrian Center and Annie’s Playground while practicing with his high school cross-country teams at John Carroll and C. Milton Wright, where he transferred this year.

“Sometimes we got a bit tired and wanted to sit down, but there would be nowhere to sit,” Evan said.

So, for his Eagle Scout project in Troop 564, he decided to build a sitting area between the trail’s two boardwalks.

Overlooking Winters Run, there’s a circular sweep of mulch with two large, halved logs serving as benches and four log stumps set in the ground for individual seats.

Facing the seating area are also two wooden information boards with facts about regional trees and animals, including some flip-up, question-and-answer squares about the information.

Steere found a lot of volunteers from his troop, parents and other relatives.

“Mostly it was Scouts and their families from my troop,” he said. Also, “some people on the trail stopped to help.”

Getting the project built took two days in early October, and a total of about 200 man-hours of building.

The information boards were constructed by adults.

Harford County Department of Parks and Recreation officials “thought it would be a good improvement to the trail, since the trail is slightly new and there’s not much on it. It is still brand-new and in boring condition,” he said.

Evan got the idea for backless, simple log benches after seeing a similar design at Assateague Island, but parks and rec officials initially wanted the benches to look like the others along the trail.

Evan ultimately persuaded them.

“The benches that were on the trail were really ugly, so I wanted to make it something creative, something new,” he said, noting that he also wanted a path off of the trail connecting to the seating area going to Winters Run, but park officials said there was a floodplain.

Paul Magness, planner project manager for parks and recreation, said the department does enjoy how the benches fit into Evan’s overall project.

“Our opinion is, in terms of the way it sits in the area, the benches actually add to the naturalistic feel,” he said. Overall, “I think actually it’s a great project. Particularly the signage that he put in place there definitely enhances the trail itself and folks will enjoy using it.”

Magness said there have been several other Scout-led projects along the Ma & Pa Trail.

The mile markers and some flat-backed benches were also built by Eagle Scouts, as well as a mulch trail, by a small wood bridge below the Equestrian Center, that leads to the largest hickory bitternut tree in Maryland.

Another boy has also been working on a GPS (Global Positioning System) program that provides information about the trail for walkers or runners, such as their current altitude.

“We enjoy obviously the partnership with the Scouts,” Magness said.

Evan said the hardest part of his project was organizing and delegating the work that had to be done, noting that it ended up taking much longer to organize the fundraising needed to raise $1,200, the project’s total cost.

Now that it’s finished, though, “it looks almost exactly like how I designed it,” he said. “It was probably the most challenging thing I have done yet.”