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Scouts clean Harrisville war memorial

HARRISVILLE — TJ Hanson and Boy Scout Troop 959 were in Harrisville on Saturday cleaning up the war memorial in front of the Alcona County Courthouse.

The boys were cleaning up the courthouse, flagpole, and the lawn around the memorial for TJ’s Eagle Scout project.

TJ, 17, said he wanted to do the project because the war memorial and surrounding area are old and need updating. TJ’s dad, Dave, is an Alcona County employee and talked about how the area needs some cleanup.

“Over the last few years, the monument’s been getting pretty bad,” TJ said. “The first and second steps are cracked, water’s been getting in there over the winter, freezes, and breaks it apart more and more every year, so it’s pretty sad.”

Dave said the war memorial — which is dedicated to everyone who has fought in a war — has been neglected over the years and he said the boys are making it more presentable.

“We’ve been looking for an opportunity to do it,” Dave said. “The boys seem really excited about it.”

TJ said the next phase is cleaning up the patches, painting the flagpole, and updating the benches.

“We’re going to put new landscape around as well, like putting in rocks and pebbles, garden liner, and new sod around it because it’s all rooted and bad,” TJ said.

On Saturday, the boys cleaned up the war memorial so they could patch the cracks.

“It needs to be cleaned so that way there’s no dirt or anything inside of it,” TJ said. “Right now we’re just scrubbing, getting the first layer of dirt from the monument and everything and then we’re going to take the powerwasher and take the dirt off the steps on the side, and then get some sort of plastic wrap to keep it dry for the next time we come around.”

The cracks in the war memorial will be sealed and then they’ll paint the base, Dave said.

For the flagpole, the boys used a wire brush to clean off the rust. That way, the fresh paint they’ll apply later won’t chip off. They’re going to paint about eight to 10 feet of the pole. For the benches, the boys are keeping the cement from the old benches and getting new wood for new benches.

“We’re going to buy all 2x4s for the benches,” Dave said.

Dave said some of the trees are going to be cleaned up so the war memorial can be more visible from the street.

“Right now, it’s a little bit overgrown and you can’t see it,” Dave said.

The county’s contribution to the project is installing LED lighting so the flagpole can be lighted at night.

TJ has been doing fundraisers to help with costs of the project. All the boys have been returning bottles and cans to get the funds for the paint and other items TJ might need.

Dave hopes the boys are learning about tribute by completing the project and other projects they take part in.

“I was a scout when I was younger and there’s a lot of community service projects and it’s not all about you, it’s about the community and you want to be a part of the community and this is a reason,” Dave said. “This memorial is for the sacrifices for the county and it’s their way to help out.”

TJ said the project is going to be completed the Tuesday before Labor Day. He hopes when the project is done it looks presentable to those who see it.

“It’s a tribute to the troops,” he said.

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