Local Church Has New Feature, Thanks to Eagle Scout.

Benjamin Bolinsky, who recently earned the title of Eagle Scout, wanted to do a community service project that would be useful for many years and would be beneficial to as many people possible. The choice seemed to be easy for him, though, as an active member of French Broad Baptist Church, as he chose to build an outdoor classroom deck.

The church, which has an excellent view of Douglas Lake, allows people to utilize the property for recreation and fishing. With this in mind, Bolinsky knew that this project would not only be beneficial to the church, but the community as a whole.

His vision was a 16′ by 16′ deck with wrap-around seating. Also included was a handicap accessible ramp so all visitors could enjoy the view. Several years ago, French Broad Baptist priced out an estimate, which totaled over $6,000 for a similar project.

“I began by getting material estimates from local hardware stores and was pleasantly surprised to find out that we could do the project for less than half the contractor’s estimate, given that we had free labor from Troop 77. So, I started seeking a private donor for funds for the project and found someone willing to do this, but the person requested to remain anonymous. My budget maximum was set at $3,000.00 and we began construction.”

21 Volunteers, which included 13 Scouts, 2 youth group members, and 5 adults worked 230 hours to complete the project. The cost was reduced to 40% of the contractor’s original estimate.

Bolinsky will be attending the University of Tennessee in Knoxville this coming fall, where he plans to major in mechanical engineering. He’s also very active in the youth group at French Broad Baptist.