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Date: 6/23/2016
EAST LONGMEADOW – It’s 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning and Connor Pfalzgraf is already hard at work. He is carrying a pair of plants in each hand around the side of the Gunther-Rowley American Legion Post 293. He places them, then looks at the assortment of florae, then re-arranges a couple, explaining that one particular variety would thrive in the sunlight.
Starting at a time when most teenagers are still in bed just thinking about rolling over, the 14-year-old and a team of volunteers spent the better part of June 18 re-landscaping and beautifying the exterior of the American Legion post. But that’s not the only reason Pfalzgraf isn’t your typical teenager. All of the work was done as the culmination of his Eagle Scout project, a rarity for someone his age.
The average age for an Eagle Scout is 17 ½, Pfalzgraf explained.
“It is a great accomplishment,” he said. “I’ve already learned so much from this project about managing people.”
Pfalzgraf and his team removed the majority of the existing plant life, mostly hostas and irises, and replaced them with a variety of species around the building. Pfalzgraf attends Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, studying horticulture and forestry, which was a big factor in deciding in what manner to help the community for his project.
“I know a lot about it and it kind of ties into what I’m learning, so this worked out as a good project for me,” he said. “The Legion wasn’t looking great. They’ve been trying to make it look better for a while, putting whatever money they had here or there to make it look nicer and it just seemed like a nice project for me.”
While he and his volunteers spent a good part of the day planting for the project, Pfalzgraf added another element to honor those who served in the Armed Forces.
“We’re also putting landscape timbers in and I had a list of all of the veterans in town that we have lost and the veterans’ names are going to go on top of the timbers,” he said.
All of the money for the materials and plants was raised by donations, including a pasta supper hosted by Pfalzgraf and company that raised nearly $1,000 to fund the project.
“Whatever money we have left is going to go back to the Legion so they can keep the nameplates going,” Pfalzgraf noted.
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