Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Scouts brave drizzle to beautify Central Park

By Times Staff Writer
Published November 7, 2007

Scouts Tyler Paul, 6, Austin Miceli, 12, Gabe Brown, 9, Dillon Irwin, Richie Vitraelli, Steven Colson, and Alex Tarrou, all 12, carry a canoe at Largo Central Park Nature Preserve.
	[Courtesy of Theresa Brown]

ADVERTISEMENT [Courtesy of Theresa Brown] Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts from Troop 455 collected 10 bags of trash and a home safe during their most recent clean-up.

Norman Rockwell would have had a hard time keeping up with these boys. On Oct. 27, the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts from Pack/Troop 455, sponsored by St. Cecelia Catholic Church in Clearwater, worked through the drizzling rain to beautify the Largo Central Park Nature Preserve.

The Cubs made makeshift ponchos out of garbage bags and spread more than ten cubic yards of mulch throughout the preserve. The Cubs learned the mulch was a recycled product generated from the normal practice of tree trimming within the city and were also taught the proper way to spread the recycled product. There were hundreds of bugs cavorting in the mulch piles and an occasional frog to catch and release.

While the Cubs mulched, the Boy Scouts paired up in canoes and cleaned up litter along the five mile kayak and canoe route originating from within the nature preserve. On the voyage, the Boy Scouts collected ten garbage bags loaded with trash, including a large home safe. The Largo police were interested in the safe, so it has been turned over for investigation.

Pack/Troop 455 adopted the Largo Central Park Nature Preserve 18 months ago and perform two cleanups each year. Their intention is to help out the City of Largo, to build community pride through involvement and to increase the Scouts' awareness of outdoor ethics. A small sign showing their sponsorship stands at the entrance of the preserve.

How do you top a day full of dirt, bugs, rubbish, rain and a police investigation? Easy! After the cleanup was complete, the boys transformed from dutiful Scouts into terrifying ghouls.

Dressed in black with plenty of fake blood and scars, the boys were part of the cast in Largo's Haunted Carn-Evil Trail. Together with the talented drama students from Largo High School, the Scouts, Scout leaders and parents haunted those who were brave enough to walk along the scary path. Carlo Miceli, the scoutmaster, crouched in the tall grass at the end of the trail and chased away the brave souls with a high-powered roar from a chainless chainsaw.

Submitted by Theresa Brown, of Clearwater, Cub Scouts den leader for Pack 455.

[Last modified November 6, 2007, 21:55:32]