Cub Scout Pack 60 member Eli Culp and advisor Lindsay Culp, right, received a Youth Award at the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisor’s Annual Educational Conference in April in Hershey. The two are pictured with PSATS Secretary-Treasurer Robert Heffelfinger.
Community parks often rely on volunteers to help with daily operations, and Anson B. Nixon Park in Kennett Township is no different. Cub Scout Pack 60 assisted the Brandywine Red Clay Alliance through its Red Valley Clay Valley Cleanup and has earned the group recognition in the 2024 Youth Awards Contest of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors (PSATS).
The group received a $500 cash prize and a framed certificate in front of township officials from across Pennsylvania during PSATS’ 2024 Annual Educational Conference and Exhibit Show in Hershey. Wednesday was the final day of the conference, which has attracted attendees from every county in Pennsylvania.
Cub Scouts from Pack 60 collected trash and pulled items from the stream that flows through the 106-acre park. Scouts taking part in the project ranged from kindergarten through grade five and included both boys and girls. The park serves the populations of Kennett Township and Kennett Borough, which is roughly 15,000 people.
“[The park] hosts diverse community events ranging from a Juneteenth Poetry Slam to a Celebration of Hispanic Heritage, and the beloved Annual Trout Rodeo,” noted Lindsey Culp, adult adviser to Pack 60. “The continued cleanup effort put forth by the Red Clay Alliance and Cub Scout Pack 60 will allow additional community use, forestry projects, and a Serenity Pollinator Garden to be installed next year.
“We hoped to help the Red Clay Alliance in their goal of restoring the natural beauty of the area,” Culp continued. “As our Scouts are too young to assist in the roadside cleanup for safety reasons, we concentrate on Anson B. Nixon Park, as we often hold Pack meetings there during warmer months. After filling many trash bags and fulfilling the Scouts’ ‘Leave No Trace’ principle of leaving a space better than we found it, I am confident in saying that we accomplished the goal.”
PSATS established the Youth Awards Contest in 1993 to recognize outstanding community service contributions made by youth groups in Pennsylvania’s townships of the second class. The program recognizes four winning projects each year.
