HAMLET — A group of scouts finished renovating the horseshoe pit by the Hamlet Senior Center Monday afternoon — a project they started two Saturdays ago.
The Richmond County Boy Scouts Troops 92, 1215 and Cub Scouts from Pack 1215 and Anson County Boy Scouts Troop 589 were part of the project. The boys, their leaders and other volunteers worked hard under the sun, shoveling dirt, measuring and adjusting posts, and trimming around the field to get the four lanes and eight pits ready before the Senior Games’ opening ceremony next Monday, April 29.
Charleen Wallace, cub master, assistant scout leader and associate crew advisor for Troop 92 from Ellerbe United Methodist, said the area has come a long way from when they first started.
“The kids worked incredibly last time,” said Wallace.
Wallace heard of the horseshoe pit project from a church member who spoke with Senior Games Co-Coordinator Pete Wheeler. The renovation was introduced as an Eagle Scout project but due to time constraints, Wallace said it worked better as a district project.
Wallace said she learned how to do the horseshoe pit renovations from a Google search. After reading some articles by a horseshoe association, Wallace said she summarized the plans and sent them to Wheeler.
“When she sent me the stuff, I was like ‘oh my God’,” remembered Wheeler. “We learned a lot.”
Wheeler said the horseshoe pit has been in need of renovations since she became a Senior Games co-coordinator in 2010 (the pits have been there since 1990). She said a man named Don Walker would come before the games to pull weeds and move the soil around.
“It’s something we said needed to get done, but something would get in the way,” she said.
On Monday, Wheeler said she was amazed at the work the scouts put in.
“When I drove up and I saw the grass being mowed, it was awesome,” she said. “It looks so good!”
For Alex Hinson and Joey Dunn, scouts from Troop 1215 (from First Baptist in Rockingham), they said the project is another way for them to serve and give back to their community.
“I like to help people,” said Dunn. “It makes me feel good.”
“You work for free to help the community,” added Hinson after joking with Dunn about not getting paid for the project.
Hinson said he’ll be working on his Eagle Scout project this summer which is building a dog park for the Richmond County Humane Society.
“I looked out there and saw it was barren,” said Hinson. “And I’m an animal lover.”
Dunn said he also wants to work on an Eagle Scout project and has a few project ideas on his mind but nothing concrete.
Others who helped Monday include scouts from Troop 1215 Luke Gilliam, Vincent Giuliano, Nicholas Ewing and Benjamin Ewing, and their leaders Zach and Pat Guiliano; scouts from Troop 92 Dwight Wallace and James Thompson (who is also in Cub Pack 92) and their leaders Charleen and Michael Wallace; scouts from Troop 589 from Anson County Zaonne Tillman, Ja’Kyri Hixson and crew member Stephen Johnson and their leader Perry Johnson.
Wheeler and Terry Mercer, another co-coordinator for the Senior Games, also came out to help.
Scouts Benjamin Ewing, far left, (from Troop 1215), James Thompson (from Cub Pack 1215) and Zaonne Tillman, far right, (from Troop 589) shoveled dirt into wheelbarrows to be wheeled off to the different pits.
Charleen Wallace, cub master, assistant scout leader and associate crew advisor for Troop 92 from Ellerbe United Methodist, assisted Alex Hinson adjust the stake in the horseshoe pit. Wallace said the stake had to be at a 12 degree angle.
