Arthur Foulkes
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
Terre Haute’s Dobbs Park has a new nature trail thanks to Saxon Porter, a soon-to-be Eagle Scout.
Porter, 17, decided to clear and refurbish an overgrown trail near in the southwest corner of the park near Dobbs Pond.
“It was all overgrown,” Porter said standing Saturday morning in the middle of the newly-opened trail, which is 312 feet long and six feet wide. The new trail connects a sitting area near the pond with an existing trail at the park known as “Fisherman’s Trail.”
The project, which has taken two weekends to complete, involved up to 30 people, Porter said. As an Eagle Scout candidate, Porter, a senior at Terre Haute South Vigo, was in charge of organizing, planning, budgeting and supervising the entire effort.
“They really are hard workers,” Porter said of his many volunteers, some of whom are fellow members of Boy Scout Troop 504. Among those helping clear the trail and laying wood chips along the path were Scout Master Harley Smithson, Porter’s mother, Vicki Porter and his younger brother, Strom Porter. Several members of the Terre Haute Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also helped, Porter said.
“They do service all the time,” Scout Master Smithson said speaking of Troop 504.
The project also involved refinishing park benches placed near the mouth of the trail.
Boy Scouts seeking their Eagle Scout rank, the highest rank in scouting, have often done community service projects at Dobbs Park, said Carissa Lovett, Naturalist at the park.
“I think it’s wonderful that they choose to do their projects here,” Lovett said Saturday. Past Eagle Scout projects at the park have included building a garden pond outside the Nature Center, replacing bridges on the nature trails and hanging bird houses around the park.
“There are several more projects that could be done,” Lovett noted.
Dobbs Park, which is a city park on East Poplar Street near Indiana 46, includes more than three miles of nature trails. It also has a large pond, a Native American Museum, a playground, butterfly garden, fishing piers, a prairie restoration area, an heirloom garden and picnic shelters.
To inquire about possible Eagle Scout projects at Dobbs Park, call (812) 877-1095.
Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.
