Christmas Blessing: School gets sandbox
Anthony Beaty, of Troop 7047 in Pinckneyville and Venture Crew 4 out of Murphysboro, has his heart set on achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.
However, attaining the coveted rank of Eagle Scout is not an easy task. According to scouting magazine, "Since the inception of the Eagle Scout award in 1912, 2.01 percent of eligible Scouts have earned Scouting's highest honor".
There are several steps involved before a boy will even be considered for the top rank of Eagle Scout. Arguably, one of the hardest steps is to "plan, develop and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community".
Once a Scout chooses a project, they must get their idea approved by the benefiting organization, their Scoutmaster, troop committee, and council/district before starting their project. After Anthony presented his idea and before leaving the board alone to deliberate, he made the statement that "no matter what you decide tonight, I'm going to build this sandbox for these kids because I enjoyed my sandbox when I was little".
He was determined to give the children of Ward School their sandbox no matter what, even if that meant he would have to build it and then come up with an entirely different Eagle project.
Money or supplies for the project must either be donated or raised through donations. In order to comply with all the BSA rules, Anthony asked for help from a very giving local community.
He is grateful to Ward School for allowing him to make a sandbox for their students. He is also thankful to Marcey Jackson, a teacher who was willing to be the contact person for the project.
Anthony sends a huge thank you to both lumberyards in Du Quoin for donating ALL the supplies to complete the entire project. Anthony first approached Du Quoin Home Lumber and pitched his idea. Without hesitation the manager generously offered to donate half the supplies needed for the sandbox. Anthony then made his way to Du Quoin's Associated Lumber where he again asked for help with his idea. Once again without a second thought, they agreed to donate the other half of the materials that would be needed to complete the project.
He would also like to thank Beelman Ready Mix in Pinckneyville for graciously donating one ton of sand for the kids to play in! Thank you Bill Timpner, owner of The Trophy Room in Pinckneyville, for donating all the plaques and signs. They are awesome. Anthony would especially like to thank all the Scouts and friends that helped put hammer to nail in building the 8' X 8' covered sand box, complete with bench seating that was donated to Ward School in Du Quoin. Those who helped were Robert Sowder of Pinckneyville Troop 7047 and his brother L.A. Sowder, Caleb Ridgeway of Du Quoin Troop 7128 and his mother, Gail, Cody Sroka of Murphysboro Troop 4, brothers Vincent Beaty and Dominic Beaty of Murphysboro Pack 112, his parents Jimmy and Tori Beaty of Pinckneyville, and grandparents Jim and Doris Beaty of Pinckneyville for allowing them to use their garage.