September 14, 2016 TJ’s Supports Local Eagle Scout’s Project

TJ’s is Proud to Support Local Eagle Scout Project

We recently heard about a local Eagle Scout project in the town of Milton, MA through a Milton interior designer we often work with, Wendy Daly, of Daly Design. Her son, Nick Daly, is undertaking a wonderful project, combining his skills in welding and his obvious talent in art to better his local elementary school. Good craftsmen are very hard to find these days and it’s refreshing to see a young man interested is learning craftsman skills and then using those skills to better his community. TJ’s was proud to support Nick on his Eagle project.

A very small percentage of boy scouts will attain Eagle. The experience clearly sets these young men apart. Each of them will grow and learn a wide variety of skills while undertaking their chosen Eagle project. I’m sure most, if not all, Eagle Scouts will tell you that their experience changed them and helped them throughout their lives. A blog in Scouting Magazine lists the ways Eagle Scouts are often different.

If you are in the Milton area, Nick’s project installation will be completed in early October, 2016. We definitely plan to visit the site as soon as it’s complete. We hope you will too.

Nick’s Story

“My Name is Nick Daly. I attend Milton High School located at 25 Gile Road, Milton, MA. I am 16 years old and I have been a cub scout/boy scout since I was 6 years old. I am currently a member of the St. Agatha Boy Scout Troop 5 Milton. Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouts of America program. The boy scouts was founded over one hundred years ago and approximately four percent of Boy Scouts earn this Eagle rank. As part of the requirements to earn the Eagle rank, the scout needs to give leadership in accomplishing a project that benefits their local community.

Last summer, my neighbor Franc Graham, approached me to see if any members of my troop would be interested in considering doing their Eagle project at the Cunningham Outdoor Classroom site. Franc Graham is a founder of the Cunningham Elementary School’s Outdoor Classroom called D.I.G (Discovery In Gardening). Even though at the time I was only 15 years old, I thought that I might be interested in doing something for the garden. After much thought and discussions I decided on constructing a hand welded gate and trellis entrance for this existing outdoor classroom fence enclosure.

I learned to initially weld at Snow Farm, The New England Craft Program in Williamsburg, MA two years ago, when I was 14 years old. Snow Farm is a full immersion, two week art intensive camp for high school students. I attended Snow Farm the summers of 2014 and 2015 and took welding, glassblowing woodworking and flame working.

I was able to improve my welding skills while I was interning at Stonybrook Fine Arts Studio in Jamaica Plain, MA . Stonybrook is a creative space that offers classes in welding, as well as bronze casting, jewelry, small metal casting, mold making, figure sculpting and stone carving. How I became connected with Stonybrook Fine Arts is I attended an Open House at Stonybrook back in November, 2014. I ended up speaking with Morris Norvin and he told me about their internships available at Stonybrook over summer vacations. I applied and last summer, I completed an internship. I constructed my gate and trellis this summer at Stonybrook Fine Arts Studio. I was able to use my accrued shop time that I earned from interning last summer. The installation will occur in early Fall of 2016. I will lead scouts in the installation of the gate and trellis as well as creating a new flower bed outside the garden enclosure.

The gate and trellis will provide an eye catching entrance to the Cunningham Elementary Outdoor Classroom. Cunningham’s DIG (Discovery In Gardening) outdoor classroom program encourages children to interact with the living world around them. They have hands on learning opportunities while increasing their awareness about their environment. This has been a great addition to the curriculum at Cunningham Elementary School. This outdoor learning classroom is in a location that is very prominent on Edge Hill Road in Milton, MA. My hope is that my project will make the very tired existing garden enclosure more presentable and pleasing to the community.

The Eagle Scout project process includes raising all of the funds required to complete my project. I reached out to my family, friends and community members for donations. I have completed this process and have received much support from local businesses by way of discounted materials and services.”