Originally published Sept. 11 / Updated Sept. 12 @4:37 p.m.
By Timothy Guo, Troop 125
Eagle Scout candidate Timothy Guo recently renovated the outdoor classroom in the Eaton Canyon Nature Center as part of his Eagle Scout project for Troop 125, Lucky Baldwin.
Eaton Canyon Natural Area is a 190-acre zoological, botanical, and geological nature preserve located at the base of the beautiful San Gabriel Mountains. It is extremely popular with visitors and packed every weekend. The outdoor classroom is an essential part of the Eaton Canyon’s outreach programs. The classroom is used by thousands of schoolchildren each year to start their field trips, as well as monthly nature program and various scouting-related events. Because of the heavy use and lack of funding, many benches have deteriorated. Resulting in holes, cracks, and peeling paint. Some of the benches are rotted and unsuitable for seating. The benches need immediate attention; otherwise they would have deteriorated even further.
“For my project, I renovated the Outdoor Classroom by restoring and repainting all the benches. I spent 4 days this summer to re-sand, restore the rotted wood, prime the entire bench first and repaint all of them. I have received finance support of $50 from the local lumber store Ganahl Lumber in Pasadena and County Park and recreation department donation of the paint. My scout leader and fellow scout from my troop worked along with me on the project,” Guo told Beacon Media.
At the end of the project, Eaton Canyon had a better outdoor classroom to host events. It was freshly repainted and all smoothed out so people would enjoy sitting on it more. Just the following weekend after the project was finished, Sierra Madre Search and Rescue team hosted their first event at the classroom according to the Eagle Scout candidate.
