Helping Eagle Scout candidate Maddox Cuddy Sept. 23 with his Eagle Scout Project, from left, are Steff and Jeff Desjardins, Lindsay Keiper Begin, Troop 497 Scoutmaster Karla Talpey, Maddox Cuddy, Koel Talpey II, Brennan Begin and Ed Cuddy. Submitted photo
JACKMAN — Maddox Cuddy, 14, of Jackman, hopes to become an Eagle Scout. Over the course of two weekends in September, he led a group of family, friends and fellow Troop 497 Scouts to complete roughly 60 hours of work on his Eagle Scout service project — improvements to the Forest Hills Nature Trail behind Forest Hills Consolidated School.
This included trail cleanup, brush cut, nature signs put back up, crushed stone added in places and removal of two old flower boxes. Two new boxes were then built and placed on cement pads. Finally, soil was added and fall mums planted.
Maddox Cuddy can remain active in Scouting until he is 18. Submitted photo
The project is the opportunity for a Boy Scout to demonstrate leadership of others while performing a project for the benefit of their community. This is the culmination of the Scout’s leadership training, and it requires a significant effort on his or her part, according to a news release from Chuck Mahaleris, district chairman for the Kennebec Valley District of Scouting.
“Maddox did a fantastic job leading his volunteers on his project. Despite his extreme shyness, he stepped up and showed great leadership on exactly how he wanted his project done from flower box placement down to placing the flower bulbs and fall mums. His project will be a great entrance to the Forest Hills Nature Trail for years to come and will be enjoyed by students, teachers and the Jackman Community who often use the trail,” said Troop 497 Scoutmaster Karla Talpey.
His mother, Michele Cuddy, was one of the volunteers who worked on the project.
“Maddox put a lot of time and effort into his project from the planning to the execution. He found that the execution was not as bad as he thought because he preplanned well. Of course as parents we are proud. We are proud that our very quiet child stepped out of his comfort zone to lead the project.”
Michele is the middle school science teacher at Forest Hills Consolidated School and sees the importance of the trail.
“It gets used more during the school year as many classes use it for various class activities,” she said. “For example, we hold science scavenger hunts there but it is used for writing assignments about what can be seen along the trail.”
Maddox is a freshman at Forest Hills High School.
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