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Date: 11/23/2016
EAST LONGMEADOW – Tyler Lamon, an 18-year-old senior at East Longmeadow High School, recently reached the status of Eagle Scout, the highest achievement in the Boy Scouts of America, for his work in mapping trails at Brown Farm.
Lamon, a member of Boy Scout Troop 179 in East Longmeadow, told Reminder Publications he mapped trails located behind the community garden at Brown Farm and put in more than 50 work hours on the project. Eight or nine people also helped him with the project.
“The town did not know what was there, so I took a GPS out with me and I mapped the trails,” he added. “I created a map on a computer. I marked all of the trails and I built a trailhead, which is a little sign, right in front of the trails that has a large map showing where they all go and it has little handout maps with it that you can take with you on the trail.”
He said he was surprised that he completed the project, which allowed him to become an Eagle Scout.
“It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t incredibly difficult,” he explained. “I just had to put in the time and do it.”
All Eagle Scout projects must benefit a community in some way, Lamon, who had his Eagle Scout ceremony on Nov. 19, said.
Director of Recreation Colin Drury said he said Lamon looked at the Brown Farm as an opportunity to create “really the first thing the town’s done with the property.”
He added, “He laid the town property lines [over the trails], diverted trails that go onto someone else’s property, then he marked the trails, as well as built a trailhead ... It’s a really extensive project. It’s a lot more than just a sign, for sure.”
Drury said the trailhead features containers from which hikers and people walking the trails can take programs for the trails. There are three different trails that have all been mapped and marked.
“What we’ll do each year is in April we’ll go out there and make sure the map is in good shape,” he added.
Drury said Lamon completed his project during the course of several months.
“He went out there on multiple occasions to really understand the property and really take the time to make sure that one, he was staying on town property, two, that he was respecting the neighbors, and three, that is was accurate ... Then he worked on creating the actual trailhead and creating an actual tri-fold document that you can go up and actually take and hike the trails with. And then [he] installed the sign with the help of his family. It was kind of a really really cool and extensive Eagle Scout project,” Drury said.