For his Eagle Scout project, Trey Howdershell knew he wanted two things: he wanted it to be unique, and he wanted it to last. These two criteria led him to the Poplar Bluff Museum’s Scout Room, a trove of Boy and Girl Scout artifacts in need of a renovation.
Howdershell knew he was the one for the job.
“Miss (Lynda) Nobles had been looking for someone to do the scout room for many years,” he said. “And I decided instead of doing trees, or redoing a parking lot, or making a few benches like everybody else, to do something that I could look back on in 30 years and say, ‘I did that’”
As a lifelong scout from a family of scouts, Howdershell is a member of Troop 4166 and no stranger to service projects.
“I’ve done work projects and service projects since, I believe, my first year — cleaning up highways, redoing parking lots, taking out concrete. We’ve done a variety of things,” he recalled.
With a team of Boy Scouts under his command, Howdershell got to work. He and his Scouts removed displays from the walls and repainted the entire Scout Room and hallway, even the baseboards. Then, they put everything back up again with new shelving and frames.
The physical labor was not the most challenging part of the renovation. The trickiest thing was keeping everyone’s shoes, and by extension the carpet, paint-free.
“We had two that got paint on their feet and they had paint all over (the) hallway. We were scrubbing for a good eight hours,” he laughed.
Nobles, the Scout Room’s docent, is especially grateful to the scouts for inventorying each item they found during the renovation — badges, knick-knacks, photos albums, uniforms, awards, flags and more.
“The inventory is going to be very helpful. What we had was people bringing stuff up and dropping it in. With that inventory, we’ll have a much better idea of what we have, so that’s a great impact,” she said.
Howdershell is especially proud of how the framed posters, certificates and awards look.
“We bought a bunch of frames for all the posters and awards that didn’t have any, and I think it looks a lot nicer and more uniform,” he said.
His advice to other scouts seeking their Eagle projects is to find something true to their personalities.
“Do something you will be happy with,” he said. It could be planting trees or constructing benches, he added, but it could also be a project no one has done yet.
The Scout Room is now open. The museum and regional scouts held a Renovational Grand Reopening for the Scout Room on May 2. Howdershell hopes other people will be inspired to visit the new space for themselves, and while there, discover what else the Poplar Bluff Museum has on display.
“You should come to the museum. I’ve only been here a few times, and every time you come you see something new,” he said.
The Poplar Bluff Museum is located at 1010 N. Main St. and open hours are 1-4 p.m. Sunday. The Scout Room is located on the second floor, which is handicap accessible.