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| 7/29/2010 5:07:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Humboldt Boy Scout Matt Bentz (left) accepts a $250 check from Humboldt 7 O’clock Kiwanis Club member Mike Worthington. The donation is for an open-air picnic shelter Bentz is constructing in Worthington Park on the city’s south side. The park is named in honor of Worthington’s grandfather, Roy Worthington. |
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Bentz to build picnic shelter in Worthington Park
Another Eagle soars
By Kent Thompson
Matt Bentz is continuing a tradition of what is fast becoming Humboldt Boy Scout Troop No. 108, the home of the Eagle Scouts.
Before the year is out, Humboldt will have five of its active members with the vaunted designation, earned by only 1.5 percent of all active Boy Scouts.
For his project, Bentz decided to construct a small picnic shelter at Worthington Park. The shelter will measure 10 feet wide by 18 feet long. There will be room for two picnic tables inside the shelter.
Matt started working on the project Sunday, July 11. He poured the concrete on Tuesday, July 13. He has been putting in the building support beams and the next steps are to put in the rafters and shingle the roof of the open-air building.
He will be using oriented strand board for the nine rafters and then painting the wood portion of the shelter white to match the gazebo that lies directly to the northwest.
"I came to this park a lot as a kid. I think having a picnic shelter will be a nice addition," Bentz said.
Humboldt 7'O'clock Kiwanis member Mike Worthington met Bentz at the park last week and presented a $250 donation toward the project. Bentz said the total cost of the project is expected to be around $3,000. He said he has received several personal and business donations toward the shelter and has a way for the public to participate.
"I'll be selling memorial landscaping blocks that will form a pathway along the side of the building.
The blocks will be engraved and will come in two sizes, four-inch by eight-inch and eight-inch by eight-inch. The cost is $50 for the smaller blocks and $100 for the larger ones.
People can order the memorial landscaping blocks while they last by calling Bentz on his cellular number, 515-368-4027. People can also contribute financially by leaving a donation at Bank Iowa in care of the Matt Bentz Eagle Project.
Bentz started planning the project a year ago and talked to Humboldt Parks Superintendent Todd Lee about the idea on June 23. The Humboldt Park Board approved the idea at their meeting earlier this month.
Worthington is not only a member of the Kiwanis Club, he is also chairman of the Humboldt Park Board.
"This will be quite a nice addition to the park when Matt is through. This whole neighborhood is changing and becoming more populated with families with young children," Worthington said.
"We've added several new pieces of playground equipment during the past few years thanks to the (Dr. David) Ruzicka family. We've also added a small basketball court, the gazebo, park benches ... it seems like the more we add, the more usage we get," Worthington said.
The park is named in honor of Mike's grandfather, Roy, who served on the Humboldt Park Board for 40 years.
Mike's father, Bob Worthington, developed the Oak Hills Addition in the area south of 6th Avenue Southwest, where the park is located.
Mike said the first establishment of the park was around 1976, when a flagpole was erected.
"The Jaycees buried a time capsule there shortly thereafter," Mike Worthington said.
Bentz said he will be finished with the project in late September. A dedication of the new picnic shelter may be held after that time.
Bentz, who will be a senior at Humboldt High School this fall, said he is proud to be able to give something back to his community.
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