Field trip leads teen to Eagle Scout project

Greg Warren remembers visiting the Hinsdale History Museum on an elementary school field trip.

"I went there in second grade and I loved it," he said.

Earlier this year, when he was thinking about potential Eagle Scout projects, the Hinsdale Historical Society came to mind.

"I really wanted to do something that would be lasting, that would be meaningful to me and the community and that would be meaningful to the sponsor of the project," Warren said. "Something that came to mind was the Hinsdale Historical Society. I reached out to them, asking if they had any projects that needed to be done, and they said they would like this refresh of the museum room."

Warren and his crew did extensive work on the exhibit room on the third floor of the museum at 15 S. Clay St. They removed old cabinets, packaged artifacts for storage, washed the wallpaper and floors, sanded and painted trim and replaced and repaired windows.

Rather than buying new cabinets, Warren repurposed donated curio cabinets.

"We were able to install them into the museum room to bring new life, new energy into the space," he said.

The project also benefited from gifts of paint and other supplies from JC Licht, along with the help of volunteers.

"A lot of my fellow scouts were able to come out and support me, some parents, some siblings, some siblings' friends, so the community was really able to get behind it."

He began planning the project in June and spent about two weeks working on the room, six days of which were particularly active. As is often the case with construction projects, he hit some snags along the way. One involved repairing a window that wouldn't open.

"Some of the parts had been stolen, so we had to obtain some new parts, which were hard to come by," he said.

And one of the curio cabinets didn't fit the space - literally.

"We had this beautiful cabinet that was donated and it was unable to fit up in the room," he said. "We moved it to Immanuel Hall, where it now serves as a gift shop."

Warren fondly reflected on the decade of growth that's resulted from his Troop 52 membership.

"I love the community, the leadership skills I develop and the friends I make along the way," he said.

He also has gone on two High Adventure trips, one to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico and one to Sea Base in the Florida Keys. He spent seven days hiking in the mountains and a week on a boat on these excursions.

"I think it was life changing," Warren said of the experiences. "It was really meaningful to me. I formed lifelong bonds with people I was on the trip with. I really was grateful for my experience to be able to carry my home on my back and go outside of my comfort zone and get these amazing, amazing experiences," he said.

Even though he has achieved the highest rank available in Boy Scouts, he will remain an active member of Troop 52.

"I'll continue to be attending meetings to help the younger scouts get further along in their path, to help people feel welcome, hopefully attending campouts and utilizing all the skills that scouts has taught me going into the future," he said.

- story by Pamela Lannom, photo by Jim Slonoff