Manhattan Boy Scout, Bolingbrook business win Forest Preserve partner awards

Forest Preserve District of Will County’s Board of Commissioners recently awarded a Manhattan Boy Scout and a Bolingbrook company with its 2020 Appreciation of Partners Awards, according to a news release from the district.

The recipients are Boy Scout Jaden Fehrenbacher, a member of Troop 49 in New Lenox and Crane Nuclear for their projects in Shorewood and Naperville, respectively.

Jaden organized a team to repair a dilapidated trailside shelter built by the Civilian Conservation Corps decades ago at Hammel Woods in Shorewood.

He supervised reconstruction of the Hammel Woods shelter’s limestone pillars as well as the complete redesign and construction of a new roof. The structure’s roof and top two feet of each column had been absent for decades, the release said.

The project, which Jaden undertook for his Eagle Scout Project, took 182 hours to complete.

The other award recipient, Crane Nuclear, had 43 of its company’s employees participate in two volunteer workdays. This resulted in opening the view of the DuPage River along the trail at Riverview Farmstead Preserve in Naperville.

By cutting and hauling small trees and tree limbs to the trail’s edge for wood chipping, Crane employees cleared an area nearly eight car-lengths long.

Crane officials felt this project was a good way to give back to the community during the pandemic, the news release said. Working outside at the Forest Preserve site made it easy to social distance and wear masks, the release Crane officials also said.

For more information about the Forest Preserve District of Will County, visit reconnectwithnature.org.