This team of hard-working Boy Scouts and several parents spent a long day sprucing up the parking lot of the new Cook County Higher Education facility. (L-R, front) are: Rusty Day, Alex Ditmanson, Dan Baumann, Jonathan Baumann and Aaron Breitsprecher. (L-R, back) Mark Ditmanson, Kyle Martinson, Daniel Ditmanson and Zach Baumann.
Cook County Higher Education’s (CCHE) parking lot and ramp area are getting a new makeover thanks to Daniel Ditmanson and some of his friends.
Ditmanson, from Boy Scout Troop 167, is trying to earn his Eagle Scout Badge, Scouting’s highest honor, and to do so he must complete a project that will benefit the community.
Last week Ditmanson and his crew of Scouts and fathers added three sugar maple trees and two crab apple trees to the Community Education parking lot. Wood railings were put in place to protect the trees and define the parking spaces. They also dug up the weeds around the handicap-accessible ramp and put down cardboard and mulch to keep the weeds at bay until next year when new soil will be added to the area.
“Most of the materials were donated,” said Ditmanson. “Mike McMillan of McMillan Tree Service dug the holes for the trees and Mark Sommers of the North Shore Credit Union donated some money to cover costs for items that had to be paid for.”
Daniel Ditmanson, holding one of the trees the boy scouts planted at the Cook County Higher Education parking lot last week, poses with Aaron Breitsprecher and Kyle Martinson, two scouts who joined with a team of scouts and parents to refurbish the buildings parking lot.
Assisting with the job were Rusty Day, Alex Ditmanson, Scoutmaster Dan Baumann, Aaron Breitsprecher, Mark Ditmanson, Kyle Martinson, Zach Baumann and Jonathan Baumann.
Paula Wolf, executive director of CCHE, said she greatly appreciated the efforts of the Scouts and thanked Daniel for choosing CCHE for his project.
“We’re thrilled, just delighted with the work that the scouts did. Daniel did a great job taking charge and directing people. He came in and assessed our needs and then he went around to community members and lined up the materials he needed to get the job done. It was fun to see him mature through this process. It was also nice to see how well the Scouts and adult helpers worked together. I was impressed by how much work they did and how long it took. At one time we were thinking of doing this on our own. We learned through this that there was no way we could have accomplished what they did,” said Wolf.
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