LYNN — Yesterday, he was a boy trying to make the Lynn Woods a better place. Today, he’s an Eagle Scout.
Michael Kelley, 16, received the Eagle Scout award at a ceremony Monday night at the Knights of Columbus surrounded by family, friends, and fellow scouts.
As part of his Eagle project, Kelley created a bench out of two stumps and planks of wood to attract park visitors to a section of the 2,200-acre Lynn Woods he feels is often overlooked. The bench can be found about one and three-quarter miles from the Great Woods entrance.
“I wanted the bench to be a pull to the Ox Pasture Road,” said Kelley. “You hear about people climbing all these other trails. Nobody goes down Ox Pasture.”
He also gave the gate a fresh coat of green paint, constructed a welcome sign for the section of woods, and re-blazed the trail at the request of the Lynn Fire Department following a fire in November 2016 that was too dangerous for firefighters to get close to.
“It’s tough to navigate in the woods at night,” said District Chief Michael McBride. “We called in the Regional Woods Fire Team and they gave us a hand. They stopped it up at Ox Pasture Road.”
Following the fire, the department gave Lynn Woods Ranger Dan Small reflective spray paint to blaze some of the trails. Kelley’s project was a big help, he said.
“There have been more and more people going up in the woods and we’ve had a few calls from people being lost up and for some fires up there,” he said. “It’s a lot easier when we blaze one side of the trail. They can put the light on on their cell phone and see the markers from a pretty good distance. It helps us out with fighting fires and rescuing people.”
Kelley earned the Scout Rank in January 2013 and his Tenderfoot Rank in May 2013. He earned his Wilderness Survival badge when he created a shelter and slept in it overnight in November 2013. Two weeks later he completed the Second Class Rank.
He set a goal, and started a three-year journey to achieve the Eagle Scout rank in 2014. He attended monthly campouts and earned the Indian Lore and Pioneering merit badges that spring.
By summer, he got a taste of Hidden Valley in the Griswold Reservation in New Hampshire when he spent a week completing finger-printing, fire safety, first aid, and pottery. He applied to work at the summer camp in 2015 and has returned for 10 weeks each summer since.
He enjoys teaching younger children what he has learned through scouting, and considers it training for his career as a history teacher.
“Proud doesn’t even do it justice,” said his father, Jim. “The maturity and leadership he has gained is monumental. He’s inspiring.”
