Community Corner
Whiz Kids: Boy Scout Troop #490
On the Saturday after Tropical Storm Irene the boy scouts and their families worked for three hours raking the Madison Green.
Name: Boy Scout Troop #490
Accomplishments: Boy Scout Troop #490 was ready, following Tropical Storm Irene, to step in and help with the clean up of Madison. So on the Saturday after the storm they worked for three hours, with family members, raking the Madison Green. It was important to get the town green spruced up after the storm in preparation for the 6 p.m. Sunday evening Remembrance Service in honor of those who died September 11, 2001.
Key to Awesomeness: Knowing their services would be needed following Irene Boy Scout Troop #490 offered their services before the storm even hit Madison. “We sort of expected that there was going to be something we could do to help, so right before the storm my scout master put in a call to the first selectman offering our services for any cleanup we could help with,” said Sam Hodgson, troop senior member. Hodgson served as liaison between the troop and town officials. About 20 to 25 scouts joined in the effort, “there were scouts, there were siblings of scouts and there were parents, as well,” said Hodgson. He explained while the town cleaned up the larger debris the scouts concentrated on raking up leaves and small sticks.
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While most of the scouts’ work was concentrated on the green itself many of the parents chipped in cleaning up the memorial garden, dedicated on September 11, 2002, to Madison people who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. “Some of the parents went through and did a cleanup of the memorial garden because there were still lots of leaves tangled up in there,” said Hodgson.
“We wanted to do our part as best we could,” said Hodgson. “We were actually looking at the green afterwards and we didn’t know the last time it had been hand raked. We all thought it was sort of a nice thing that we were able to do and actually help out the town that had been so generous in supporting our troop in the past.”
Find out what's happening in Madisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Pam McKinnon, who organized Civic Participation Week, says that throughout the weekend many people will visit the memorial garden and it really needed some work following Irene. “With the storm there were all kinds of branches in the bushes and branches in the flowers and it just didn’t look good,” she said. “It looks very nice now thanks to the Boy Scouts.”
