Central student finishes Eagle Scout project

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Graham Whitmore carries a board for framing the walkway. For his Eagle Scout project Graham Whitmore enlisted about 15 family members and friends to re-install a flagstone walkway at the Hinsdale Historical Museum on Saturday. | Jon Langham~for Sun-Times

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Updated: October 31, 2011 2:39PM

Nearly five years after he started in the Boy Scouts, Hinsdale resident Graham Whitmore is just one merit badge away from becoming an Eagle Scout after he completed his Eagle project Saturday at the Hinsdale History Museum.

Whitmore, along with a team of 23 volunteers, repaved the flagstone entrance walkway to the museum to make it easier for elderly residents to access the museum, particularly in the winter.

“I was struggling to find an Eagle project, so I was asking a bunch of places in town if they needed any help,” Whitmore, 17, said. “I got in touch with the Hinsdale History Museum and it turned out they really needed it because there are a lot of elderly people who use the museum and it can be difficult for them to walk up that way when it’s uneven.”

Whitmore said the work involved taking out the flagstones, putting in new bedding and putting the stones back in place to create a smoother surface.

“It’s much safer because the pathway is level now,” Hinsdale History Museum Manager Anne Swenson said of Whitmore’s project. “The pathway had been installed about 20 or 25 years ago and many parts had been washed out since. It was certainly easy to twist an ankle there.”

Whitmore said his Eagle coach, Skip Heidler, helped him plan and organize the project for months leading up to the event.

“He put me through this whole process that really helped me,” Whitmore said. “Even though he was really busy he was always available to help plan this.”

Yet even after Whitmore, a rising senior at Hinsdale Central, had decided on the project, he faced the challenge of securing the needed supplies and manpower to complete the project.

“Because it’s an Eagle project I couldn’t fund it and my parents couldn’t fund it,” he said. “And it was going to cost between $600 and $650. So I went to some local businesses and asked for their help.”

The community responded strongly to Whitmore’s requests, offering up the needed supplies and money to make the project feasible. Among the local businesses who contributed were Kramer Foods, Home Depot, Hinsdale Bank and Trust, Mavon Insurance, Tamelings, Hinsdale Clothiers and Hinsdale Nursery, with donations varying from money to power tools to crates of water.

Dennis Jones, chief executive officer of Hinsdale Bank and Trust, said it was not unusual for the bank to make a financial donation to a student in Whitmore’s position and the bank is glad to help Eagle Scouts.

“Every year one or two guys from the area come to us with a worthwhile cause that provides a benefit to the student and a benefit to a nonprofit in town,” Jones said. “It’s like getting a double high-five. You’re helping the kid grow and get experience and you’re helping something get done that improves the fabric of the community.”

In addition to providing a donation, Jones said he likes to sit down and offer advice on the project.

“We meet with the kid too, and try to provide some meaningful guidance that will help him,” Jones said. “It’s just another little thing that community banks do.”

Having secured enough donations of supplies and money to carry out the project, Whitmore turned to his friends and past Eagle Scouts to solicit volunteers.

“There were other Eagle Scouts who I’d helped with their projects, so they were glad to help out,” Whitmore said. “And my friends and family have been very supportive too.”

Now that the project is completed, Whitmore just has to earn one more merit badge before he will be eligible to become an Eagle Scout. That, he said, is something that makes him proud.

“I’m already proud of how far I’ve gotten as a Scout because a lot of people drop out along the way,” he said. “It’ll definitely be something I feel good about accomplishing.”

Whitmore said his dad relayed a quote from the late Randy Pausch’s book, The Last Lecture, which pointed out being an Eagle Scout is one of the few things he can do now that he can still put on his resume when he’s 40.

“This has definitely been one of the biggest things in my life,” Whitmore said.