A year ago, the NHCA Garden Committee reached out to former NHCA board member and scout mother, Shivani Grover, about connecting with local Boy Scout troops regarding a potential Eagle Scout project at the Gateway Garden. From that connection, Lucas Dominguez from Piedmont Troop 6 reached out to us with a willingness to help. Fred Booker met with Lucas and his father Francisco at the Gateway Garden to talk about two potential projects: repairing the pathway borders at the garden and replacing the decaying wood steps that lead from the pavilion entry sidewalk into the garden.
The original wood stairs
After a walk through the garden and consultation with his father and questions for Fred, Lucas decided that the steps were the priority for repair. In the intervening months, Lucas researched design and estimated costs and quantities of material needed, then wrote a proposal to submit to his troop. Once approved, he procured the materials needed and enlisted help from his fellow Troop 6 members to build the steps.
Last month, Lucas and members of his Troop assembled with all the necessary material to do the job on the very chilly mornings of January 24 and 25. First, they had to demolish the original decaying steps before installing the new garden stairway. This involved setting and leveling 4” x 6” pressure-treated risers and tread supports followed by filling the tread wells with sand and gravel. Risers and the tread supports were held in place with 3’ lengths of rebar and 12” wood screws.
L-R: Aiden Velasco, Nick Castro, Mr. Ed Guzman, Alek von Komarnicki, Mr. Jason Throne, Conner Hulsy, Sebastian Guzman, and Lucas Dominguez.
The project took two days with lunch provided through donations from NHCA friends Andrea Gordon of Compass Realty, and Nick Pappas of Star Grocery.
From L-R: Jack Throne, Scout Master Mr. Jason Throne, Lucas Dominguez, Mr. Ed Guzman, Nancy Mueller, Fred Booker and Nick Castro.
The North Hills Community Association would like to thank Lucas Dominguez, his father Francisco Dominguez, and Piedmont Troop 6 members Nick Castro, Jack Throne, Sebastian Guzman, Alek von Komarnicki, Aidan Velasco, and Conner Hulsy, along with parents Mr. Ed Guzman, Mr. Sean McKillop, and Scout Master Mr. Jason Throne. Also, special thanks to Nancy Mueller for her neighborhood outreach, fundraising and making sure the scouts were fed and hydrated during their labours.
