James, one of eight scout members in Troop 54 in Beech Creek/Blanchard, attended a Mill Hall Borough Council meeting in February 2024 to request council’s approval for his project.

The plan included building a park bench, cutting out and welding steel soldier silhouettes, fundraising and excavating a brick pathway.

They sold 4″ x 8″ commemorative bricks for $50 each, which were engraved by Clinton County Memorials with the name of a person or business you wanted recognized — whether they be a veteran, a first responder, an organization or business.

“When my parents owned a rental close to the memorial we noticed that the memorial could use an upgrade. I would help my Dad mow around the memorial. It was then that I decided what to do for my Eagle Project,” said James in a past Mill Hall Borough meeting.

A steel sheetmetal soldier is shown. PHOTOS PROVIDED

Originally, the hope was the project would be completed at the end of the summer, but the project ran into a couple of snags along the way — such as needing approval from Scout Council.

With help from his father, Dave Turner; grandfather, Art Turner; and countless individuals in the community, James was able to finish the renovation.

Art was a big help in selling bricks and getting donations according to James.

“My Pap owned a car dealership years ago, and is part of the Mill Hall Kiwanis Club, he knows a lot of people around town,” James said.

This project wouldn’t have been possible without the various local businesses who were willing to lend a helping hand — several area businesses stepped up to help James with expenses and labor.

PHOTO PROVIDED Another steel soldier silhouette is pictured.

Materials for the bench James constructed were donated by Toner Napa Auto Parts.

Plywood forms were made for concrete bases and the concrete was laid at home. Once it set, the forms were lifted with a front end loader and transported. The bench top is constructed from 4×4 posts and secured with bolts that run into the concrete bases.

“The two soldier silhouettes probably took the most time and work,” said Dave.

The soldier patterns were drawn onto steel sheets and plasma cut. A 2-inch strip of steel was bent around the perimeter of the cut out and welded into place before a second layer was added to the top. This gave the soldier an appearings of being very thick steel.

The steel for one of the soldier silhouettes was donated by Condo’s welding, the other by Killinger’s Sheet Metal. Ken from KV Hauling and Salvage donated his time and forklift to help set the soldiers in place.

PHOTO PROVIDED Pine Mountain Excavating donated the pathway digging, as well as truck loads of stone and helping to level the pathway.

“After the soldiers were cut and welded together by my Dad, they were then taken to Carr’s Powder Coating in Jersey Shore. Craig did a great job, and donated all his time and materials,” said James.

Excavating for the pathway was donated by Pine Mountain Excavating, who also brought in truck loads of stone and helped to level the pathway for the bricks.

“Brian and Kevin were a big help getting the pathway ready for us to lay bricks. Through several work days with the scout Troop 54 we were able to accomplish quite a bit,” said Dave.

Around 120 bricks were engraved and scattered along the pathway.

The bricks for the path were donated by Snavely’s Mill, and stand out beautifully thanks to the added mulch and solar lighting.

“It was neat to see the local businesses that took part and purchased bricks, along with the veterans and loved ones who also had memorial bricks done,” said Dave.

“This was a fun project, and hopefully the community really likes what we have done,” said James.

The final step James needs to take to earn his rank is to go in front of the Eagle Scout Board of Review and have his work approved by Scout Council.

Any unused funds will be transferred to Mill Hall Borough for the maintenance of the memorial.

You can find more information about the project on their Facebook page, Mill Hall WW2 Memorial — James Turner Eagle Scout Project.