Eagle Scout proud of project, choices

If Bryson Williams has children of his own, he will be able to take them to Comstock Park, point at the 9-foot-tall outdoor fireplace, and say, “I did that.”

Bryson, 15, is a Boy Scout in Troop 313. For his Eagle Scout project, he chose the fireplace.

“I have been a part of the Scouting program since I was in the first grade, and I envisioned the honor of an Eagle Scout as a pinnacle of my scouting career and I see my fireplace as an accent to this achievement and to the community.”

Williams, a sophomore at Lewis and Clark High School, could have picked a simpler project, but he knows that his monument will be around for years. “I can’t even count the number of people who asked me if I should switch my project or people who didn’t believe that a teenager could complete such a task.”

Williams was driven to prove them wrong. “Through this process Bryson has proven to be a very goal-oriented and determined young man who is not afraid to meet a challenge,” said his mother, Eileen. “And we are very proud of him.”

The project took about a year and a half. The work included finding contributors for funds and materials, getting approval from the Parks Department, and finding a brick mason, Pat Carbaugh, who did much of the manual labor and incorporated 7,000 pounds of river rock into the fireplace.

“Bryson tells me what to do, and I do it, and he does what I tell him to do,” said Carbaugh, “but he’s more of a white collar kind of guy; he likes the supervising role.”

The final step will be the installation of a plaque bearing the names of donors who, like Williams, were instrumental in the fireplace’s existence

Williams plays the trumpet and likes backpacking, biking and any other outdoor activities.

“I meet the challenges ahead of me one day at a time. I choose to make good choices and partake in music and get good grades because I want my life to go somewhere, and I shouldn’t be held back by anything else. The completion of the fireplace is just a steppingstone to what I want to move onto in life,” Williams said.