John Cook and Nicholas Spiering have known each other for almost a decade.
Having met as Boy Scouts, the teens have watched each other complete different badges, earning their way up the Scouting ranks. Hoping to cross the finish line together, the now Life Scouts decided to complete a project in an effort to earn the Eagle Scout rank.
“We’ve always worked together throughout Scouts,” said John, 15. “We’ve gotten badges together and everything.”
Having experience with woodworking and building structures, the boys reached out to the Leechburg Area Youth Baseball Association with an offer to build a tool shed and a concession stand next to the association’s new home field.
In March the association was able to make a deal with the American Legion in Schenley to use the organization’s field, which had previously been used for a few beer league games and softball tournaments.
Members of the association spent months fixing up the field for use, and housed equipment and concessions in their cars this past season.
“When we first came up with the idea for the Eagle project, we knew it was a great idea (compared) to what a scout would normally pick,” John said. “We instantly reached out when we heard they needed it.”
John’s mother, Jamie, reached out to Jonathan McLaughlin, president of the organization, and Carley Sipolino, a member of the board, in April to offer the services of her son and Nicholas, 16.
Sipolino said she was excited when she heard the boys wanted to help. She sold concessions out of her car during games this past season.
“I was toting a cooler, a table and all the snacks up there and setting it up for every game,” she said.
Sipolino is looking forward to being able to set up shop in a legitimate structure when baseball season rolls back around in the spring.
At one point, Sipolino and the other association members attmepted to build a carport to make selling the snacks easier. She said a particularly strong windstorm took it out less than a week later.
She called the new concession stand a game changer, making it easier on her and parents scheduled to volunteer for the upcoming season. The association will still be selling nonperishable items until they decide if they want to add electricity to the new stand.
McLaughlin’s car doubled as the field’s tool shed before the structure was built.
“It’s nice to have somewhere that we can store everything,” he said.
Carting the tools and a lawn mower between the field in Schenley and the association’s home base was time-consuming, he said.
The association’s next step is to start fundraising for a lawn mower that can be stored full time at the Schenley field.
“These boys really knocked it out of the park,” McLaughlin said.
The project took from the beginning of September until the end of October. They raised $2,500 from local business donations for the project.
“I want to thank (McLaughlin and Sipolino) for giving us the opportunity to build this project for them,” Nicholas said.
John and Nicholas were both members of the youth baseball association, having played T-ball. While neither of them has played baseball for a while, they said it was nice to revisit the memories and give back to an organization that once helped them.
“It’s cool they built these sheds for the little league they once played for,” Jamie Cook said.
Nicholas said it might still be a some time before the boys know if they’ve earned the Eagle Scout badge. They have to submit paperwork to the national level of Scouts and explain at a board meeting why their project fits the Eagle Scout standard.
“You have to complete a lot of paperwork about your project,” Nicholas said. “You have to list materials, thoughts about it, what you could have done better.
“It could be around spring time when we actually earn the achievement.”
