Submitted photo A team of Boy Scouts and others installs a new bench at Austintown Township Park’s Celebration Grove in November. Boy Scout Randy McCloskey built 12 benches for the park for his Eagle Scout project.

AUSTINTOWN — Celebration Grove in Austintown Township Park has 12 new benches thanks to the work of a local teen.

Boy Scout Randy McCloskey, 16, wanted to use his Eagle Scout project to do something to improve the township park, where his Troop 184 has camped out for years.

Todd Schaffer, township park supervisor, pointed McCloskey to benches in Celebration Grove — a section of the park created by the Rotary Club of Austintown in 2006 — that needed to be replaced.

After about $1,200 of fundraising, McCloskey and his father assembled the pieces of the benches at their home in Youngstown.

“We got all the holes drilled, all the stuff ready,” McCloskey said. “It was like a puzzle at that point. You just had to put it together.”

McCloskey said he and his father likely had 75 hours of work into the project, working from three to 12 hours each day, on the weekends and sometimes also working during the week for several months.

“It took a while. It was some trial and error. We were doing a template, but not everything was correct,” he said.

There was also trouble getting the 400 bolts needed to hold all the benches together.

“We had to bounce around because we couldn’t get enough bolts,” McCloskey said. “We would go to Home Depot and get like 50, and buy them out for two weeks.”

He said when the week for installation came, he was still short more than 100 bolts and had to order them from five stores.

McCloskey’s family, his troop and Scout Troop 105 from North Jackson installed the benches during a campout in November.

“Going into my tent and reflecting on the years I spent in scouting and how it led up to me being able to do something really cool for the community, it was kind of bittersweet,” McCloskey said.

McCloskey, a junior at Austintown Fitch, said he joined Boy Scouts about six years ago when he moved from Canfield.

“I had just moved here and didn’t really know many people, so I figured it was a good way to get to know people and maybe get to learn some skills that would help me on my path through life,” he said.

He said Boy Scouts has done just that, giving him the opportunity to meet other Scouts from places such as Pittsburgh, North Jackson and West Virginia. He said scouting has also shaped his character and taught him leadership and life skills.

“Yeah, it’s shaped me to who I am today. I think it’s a wonderful organization,” he said.

The Rotary Club of Austintown, at a January meeting, thanked McCloskey for his work in Celebration Grove.

avugrincic@tribtoday.com