John Dennison Eagle Project

Description of Service Project

I decided, after a discussion with my minister and the chairman of the buildings and grounds committee, to make a nature trail in the 20-acre wooded area adjacent to the Community Church of Chapel Hill, N. C. This wooded~,land is available for public use and has been used by various community groups in the past.

I began by laying out a 3/4-mile trail through the woods. After acquiring the proper reference materials, I began the task of identifying the various types of plants along the trail, I then found 46 suitable, different specimens evenly spaced along the trail.

Next I began making the signs. Each sign consisted of a 3"x3" ink drawing of the leaf, fruit and flower of the plant and a label made with a "Dynamo" labeling device. These were mounted on a 3 1/2"x6" piece of 1/2" plywood. The sign was then encased in clear plastic to make it waterproof. I prepared 46 such labels which I then mounted on the respective plants along the trail.

I found it necessary to build a bridge across a small creek to replace one which had rotted and fallen into the stream. I cleared the creek channel and erected a 9'x8' bridge of 5"-7" logs.

My next step was to make a sign marking the beginning of the trail. For this sign I used a 5" diameter cedar log which I chopped in half lengthwise and planed smooth, I then carved "NATURE TRAIL" in 2 1/2" letters in the wood. To aid in the legibility, I then painted the letters black.

I took this sign down to the trail to suspend it from two trees by ropes. This was to be the last step in my project. When I arrived at the site, I found that the 46 signs had been taken down and scattered by vandals. I was able to recover most of the signs, although some will need to be repaired.

After careful consideration and discussion, I decided that it would be fruitless to reconstruct the trail at this time. There seemed to be no way to insure against further vandalism.

Schedule of the Service Project

9/24/72    I spent about one half hour looking over the trail and discussed my plans with the minister and the
chairman of the buildings and grounds committee of the church.
9/28/72    I got the approval of my Scoutmaster for the project.
10/13/72    I worked seven and one half hours laying out the trail, identifying plants along the trail, and finding suitable examples of the plants for labeling.
10/14 - 22/72    I spent between eight and nine hours drawing the diagrams of the plants and making labels for the
signs for the trail.
10/23/72    I spent about four hours cutting the sign bases (3~-x6") out of i" plywood and mounting the drawings
and labels on the signs,
10/24-72    I spent about 2 hours encasing and sealing the signs in clear plastic.
10/28/72    I worked about four hours putting the signs in place.
10/29/72    I spent about four hours completing the task of putting up the signs and completing the identification
of the plants on which the labels were placed. I also did some preliminary planning and construction on the bridge,
11|1/72    I worked about one hour on the "NATURE TRAIL" sign for the beginning of the trail,
11/2/72    I finished the "NATURE TRAIL" sign and made more plant identification signs, working a total of about two and one half hours.
11/5/72    I worked about seven and a half hours building a bridge and putting up the remainder of the trail signs.
11/12/72    I returned to complete the trail and place the final marker. At this time I discovered that the trail signs previously erected had been vandalized. I spent one and a half hours recovering the signs and decided not to complete the trail until some solution to the vandalism problem seemed likely.