Young volunteers restore Conservation Park

By Kalen McCain
Posted 7/1/20

Members of Boy Scouts of America Troops 235 and 235G renovated the public bathroom at Conservation Park in Riverside on June 20.

Despite being completed by the scouts, Troop 235G Scoutmaster …

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Young volunteers restore Conservation Park

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Members of Boy Scouts of America Troops 235 and 235G renovated the public bathroom at Conservation Park in Riverside on June 20.

Despite being completed by the scouts, Troop 235G Scoutmaster Samantha Holden said the project was initially a community service proposal from a Lego League team.

Lego League is part of FIRST, an international series of competitive robotics programs for K-12 students.

Holden said she was the head coach for the local Lego League team, but stressed that the program was very hands-off, encouraging the students to lead the way with a coach for oversight rather than direction.

“They have a robot… that they build to do missions on a field, so it’s all engineering, building this robot, trying to get it to do stuff, but on top of that, they have a project that they have to come up with,” Holden said. “This year’s project was to find something in your community that you could improve upon, so after brainstorming several ideas, my team settled on the bathroom of the Conservation Park.”

Because four members of the Lego League team were members of the local Scout Troop, the renovation offered both a way to complete the League’s community service project while also scoring community service merit badges for the scouts.

Holden said seven Scouts, ages 12-14 participated in the project. They replaced both doors, all four toilet seats and three of the four toilet paper dispensers in the restroom.

Scouts also cleaned the structure, installed air fresheners, door locks and hand sanitizer dispensers, and tore down the building’s tattered screens.

Although the initial project proposal included solar-powered lights and tin panel roofing, the Riverside City Council did not approve funds for these components.

“A few changes that they proposed weren’t necessarily necessary but everything else looked good,” Council Person Andy Rodgers said at a June 15 meeting to approve the funds. “I think the roof is just mildewed and just needs a wash.”

“It’s made of material made thin so you can’t see through it, but it provides light,” added City Clerk Becky LaRoche.

For those interested in Lego League, Holden said to contact samiholden@gmail.com or Owen@piettes.com.

Holden also strongly encouraged volunteers to reach out to help with the program. “We need coaches to continue to grow just as much as we need students,” she said.