Date: Fri 06-Nov-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: JAN

Quick Words:

eagle-scout-project-Champagne

Full Text:

Scout Restores Flat Swamp Cemetery

(with photos)

BY JAN HOWARD

An Eagle Scout project has resulted in the restoration of an early 19th

Century cemetery that has been unused for many years and all but forgotten by

town residents.

The cemetery, located on Cemetery Road behind the ground water filtering plant

in Dodgingtown, has been rehabilitated by 17-year-old Benjamin Champagne of

Hattertown Road, a member of Boy Scout Troop 370 led by Scoutmaster Thomas

Maxwell.

Benjamin has been a member of Boy Scouts for five years. He is a junior at

Newtown High School and a member of the varsity football team. He hopes to

pursue a career in the medical field in college.

Benjamin's sponsor for the cemetery project was Town Historian Daniel Cruson.

"He has done a spectacular job," Mr Cruson said. "I have followed other Eagle

projects involving restoration in cemeteries, but Ben has really done an

extraordinary job."

"He did a great job," Mr Maxwell said.

Mr Maxwell said Benjamin is a strong leader with the ability to lay out a

workable strategy and attain a goal.

"He is very focused, enthusiastic, and a great role model to younger scouts,"

Mr Maxwell said. "He's just a great kid. He had all the qualities of an Eagle

Scout when he was a tenderfoot."

Benjamin said the cemetery restoration project began with a letter he wrote to

First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal inquiring about the project he might

undertake. Mr Rosenthal advised him to talk to Mr Cruson.

"It [the cemetery restoration] was something that needed to be done in the

community," Benjamin said. "It had been in disrepair for a long time."

He said his great-grandmother, Mary Kocet, owned a farm near there, and the

cows grazed in the cemetery and kept the grass down. But after the farm was

divided among family members, the cemetery became overgrown and almost

forgotten.

"No one really knew the cemetery was there," he said.

The earliest existing stone is that for Harriet Judd, who died October 21,

1812, at the age of 7. The latest burial was of Abraham Lyon, who died

December 13, 1901. Other family names represented are Beardsley, Knapp, Hull,

Platt, Smith, Hawley, Beers, Nickols, Barnum, Judson, Judd, Shepherd, Wheeler,

Simmons, Crofut, Hard and Lewis.

A new sign close to the road, completed as part of the project, marks Flat

Swamp Cemetery. The cemetery is located on a small hillside several hundred

feet beyond the sign.

Benjamin said he worked closely with Mr Cruson on the project.

"I would tell him what I was doing. Then if I had questions, I would ask him,"

Benjamin said.

Benjamin planned the project, arranged for volunteers and donated materials,

and supervised the project. Eight volunteers helped with the restoration and

Mead Construction donated the cement to repair the stones and material to

build the sign.

"There was lots of planning for the project," Benjamin said. "I went there,

and saw what had to be done, such as brush removal and cleanup and putting

stones back where they used to be."

Work on the cemetery began late in July and was completed in mid-October, he

said.

The work has included clearing out all of the underbrush and reestablishing

the boundaries of the cemetery, Mr Cruson noted.

Benjamin said he established the boundaries from cornerstones, and wherever he

found graves, he removed the brush. He also repaired many of the toppled

stones.

Benjamin also took the inventory of stone inscriptions that was completed in

the mid-1930s and confirmed the existence of most of them, Mr Cruson said.

"In the process he located three stones that had been missed by other

researchers," he said.

"All the graves on the list were in order, but a couple of stones were

buried," Benjamin said.

Benjamin also probed the ground along the rows of stones and located several

that were buried and would have been lost except for his efforts, Mr Cruson

said.

Benjamin said he found the unlisted stones by poking the ground with a metal

bar. "The stones were not on the original list. I uncovered them and stood

them up," he said, noting the stones were not weathered, unlike those that had

long been exposed to the elements.

Mr Maxwell said it was no surprise to him when Benjamin took on the Eagle

project.

"He will achieve whatever he sets out to do," he said.

Benjamin has participated in high adventure canoe trips and is a skilled

camper, and has participated for several years in a summer camp experience at

the scout reservation in Rhode Island, Mr Maxwell said.

Benjamin is "an outstanding, dutch oven cook," he said. When Benjamin is in

charge of cooking during campouts, he added, "It's on a gourmet level. He's

very accomplished in that."

Benjamin also has the ability to teach his skills to younger scouts, he said.

Mr Maxwell fully expects to appoint Benjamin as a junior assistant scoutmaster

in the future. A scout must be 16 and an Eagle Scout to receive this

appointment, he said.

Mr Maxwell explained that only two percent of Boy Scouts reach Eagle Scout

status.

"The Eagle Scout project is one big hurdle in advancement that some scouts

never overcome," Mr Maxwell said. It requires a strong commitment of time and

coordination of volunteers.

He said Benjamin most likely spent about 100 hours on the cemetery project.

The Eagle award is "an incredible measure of achievement," he said. "We have a

strong advancement program."

To achieve Eagle Scout, a boy scout must advance through the ranks, beginning

with tenderfoot, and earn 21 merit badges, many of which are required for

Eagle status. An Eagle Scout project, such as the cemetery restoration, is

also a requirement. It must be approved by a coordinator, the scoutmaster, and

the Connecticut Yankee Council.

It must be accomplished entirely with volunteer labor and donated supplies. It

also must be on public property.

"Several Eagle Scout projects have benefited the town in several ways," Mr

Maxwell said. He said there are three or four projects ongoing at the present

time.

He said Eagle Scout coordinator Steve LaBianco works with the scouts to help

them with their organizational skills.

Mr Maxwell said the program helps an individual build important life skills,

such as citizenship, enhance leadership skills, and develop a sense of

community service.

He said Benjamin will now go before a review board that will look at his

requirements for Eagle status.

"They will interview him to make sure he is Eagle Scout material," Mr Maxwell

said. "Then they will deliberate on whether to say yes or no.

"There is no question in my mind he will be ready," he said.

The application then will be sent to national headquarters in Texas, where it

will again be reviewed and the Eagle Scout medal and certificate issued.

The Eagle Scout designation will be awarded at a Court of Honor.

"It's a memorable experience," Mr Maxwell said, noting his own Eagle Scout

ceremony remains one of his strongest memories.