Martin, a Panama Central School senior, chose to focus his Eagle Scout final project on giving the library’s outdoors a makeover.

For Martin, being an Eagle Scout is one way to expand on his passion for helping the community, and he did just that by choosing to help the Ashville Library through his final project.

“It’s not just a good title, it shows how much I put the work in to get there,” Martin said. “I enjoy helping the community and being an Eagle Scout shows that I put the work in.”

There are multiple steps required for an Eagle Scout final project, beginning with a proposal for the project that the Scout chooses. They then send this proposal for approval and once it is approved they have to gather materials and monetary donations, along with finding people to help get the project done. They then schedule days to do it and get the project finished. Once it is finished the next steps include finishing the paperwork to talk about the process and having an Eagle Board of Review, where they answer questions about how they got to that point along with other things like why they enjoy being a Scout and what it means to them.

Owen Martin, a senior at Panama Central School, did his Eagle Scout final project, beautifying the area around the Ashville Library’s sign. Submitted photo

Martin said he chose to help the Ashville Library with his project because he wanted to do something different than what others have done in the past.

“A lot of kids in my Boy Scout troop have done projects on the Harmony Historical Society and not many do projects somewhere else,” Martin said. “I asked around to see what other places may need help by doing a project that is outside that would make a difference. My scout master said the library wanted some landscaping work done to help them with having to do less mowing and maintenance work, and I thought that sounded like a good idea.”

Martin did his project focusing on two outdoor spaces for the library. The first space was by the front sign, which he said had an area of about 10 by 25 feet, that was all grass and a flower bed before he did his project. With his project, Martin put in a new garden bed with gravel, so there will be no need to mow it and he said it should stay nice for a long time without much maintenance needed, except for things like watering flowers. The second area was a strip of grass along the right side where he said there was a little bank. Martin also put gravel there, and said the library may plant some plants there later, but for his project he got rid of the weeds and put in gravel and limestone.

The Ashville Library described the new look as something that was professional and that they were proud to showcase, and Director Kristina Benson said the project went off without a hitch.

“Owen’s attention to detail and work ethic is something most adults could aspire to,” Benson said. “He’s a great young man, and we’re thrilled with our new garden space.”

Pictured is Owen Martin, outside the Ashville Library where he recently completed his Eagle Scout final project, putting in a new gravel garden bed around the Library’s sign. Submitted photo

Now that his project has been completed, Martin is onto the paperwork step, which will then be followed by his Eagle Board of Review. He encouraged more kids in the local community to join Boy Scouts.

“There are not many kids involved in Boy Scouts, I feel like, and it’s a good group to be involved in because you can help the community in many different ways, and it’s fun,” Martin said.