Looped walking trail at Brongers Park now accessible, thanks to Cub Scouts; Den leaders hope donations allow them to finish the job

by Erica Peterson

Cub Scout Pack 3520 of Hinckley has been busy cleaning up the walking trails at the township’s Brongers Park, next to Town Hall. Thanks to their hard work, a figure-eight-shaped section can now be used.

“It’s a quarter-mile trail that anyone can walk now,” said Den Leader Paul Simmons. “It’s pretty accessible.”

It wasn’t always that way, fellow Den Leader James Ohlemacher said. In 2017, he planned to take his Bears (third-grade Cub Scouts) on the trail for one of their meetings.

“I came over here on my day off to walk the trail so I could get a feel for it,” Ohlemacher said. He crossed the bridge to the trail and “that was it,” he said. “There was no trail. It was the bridge to nowhere.”

He fought the overgrowth to see if the walk could be salvaged and quickly saw it would be impossible.

“I could tell it was once a great place, but it had really fallen into disrepair,” he said.

Disappointed and unsure what to do, Ohlemacher said he prayed for some guidance. He said a clear, reassuring voice told him, “Don’t be disappointed. It’s a gift. Instead of taking one hike, you have dozens of opportunities to return and clear the trail, so it can be enjoyed by everyone.”

Ohlemacher shared the service project idea with Simmons, who leads the Webelos (fourth- and fifth-grade Cub Scouts.) He was on board.

“We thought cleaning them up would be a good way for Scouts to get involved and help improve a part of the community,” Simmons said. “The whole purpose of Cub Scouts is community service and giving back to the community.”

Things quickly fell into place. Ohlemacher was directed to then-Trustee Melissa Augustine, and by November 2017, he, Simmons and the Scouts gave a presentation about the project to the trustees at their annual meeting at Hinckley Elementary. The meeting was in front of the third-grade class, which included both men’s sons, who are also Scouts.

Simmons and his wife, Shannon, have two children, 10-year-old Webelo Ben and 5-year-old Lily. Ohlemacher lives with his wife, Alana, and children, George (a Bear Scout) and Henry (a Webelo.)

The two families became close when Ben and Henry befriended one another in kindergarten. As they got involved in Scouting, so did their fathers.

Pack 3520 did a little work on the trails last summer, but its big push was this year. Once the weather cleared, Simmons said, they rallied the troops and on May 5, about 20 Scouts and their parents arrived at Brongers with tools in tow.

“We did a ton of weed whacking, and one parent brought a chainsaw to tackle the downed trees,” Simmons said.

The boys steered clear of the power tools and instead did a lot of raking, shoveling and clipping (and plenty of climbing.) They also had creative control in laying out the logs that border the path, Ohlemacher said.

 “They really did an impressive job,” he said. “We were expecting to only get the lower loop done, but they braced mosquitoes, thorns, poison ivy and mud to get both done. We’re very proud of them.”

Ohlemacher said they learned the best ways to clear the trail as they went, which provided a good lesson for the Scouts.

“The boys got to see you don’t have to be a master at something to do it, you just have to put yourself out there,” he said. “I’m actually glad the trails were in disrepair. It’s been a joy watching the boys be of service.”

The pack plans to work on rest of the trails down the road, Simmons said.

“We only did half of the park,” he said. “We have to work on other half in the next few years. We could add another half-mile to the trail.”

That portion will be more involved, as it includes two bridges that have fallen apart, he said.

Simmons envisions one of the boys perhaps taking on the bridge repair as a future Eagle Scout project.

For now, the pack hopes to get some help with keeping up the part of the trail it did clear.

“What would be great is if we had mulch or gravel to lay down as a base surface so vegetation doesn’t grow back so quickly,” Simmons said. “Without it, the vegetation will grow back in a few weeks.”

Anyone interested in donating mulch, woodchips or gravel for the trail or lumber for the future bridge restoration project can contact Cub Scout Pack 3520 at pack3520@gmail.com.

Featured image photo caption: Two of the walking trails at Brongers Park are accessible once again, thanks to the hard work of members of Cub Scout Pack 3520, including (front, l-r) Ben Simmons, Anthony Makris, Henry Ohlemacher, Brennan Lacy, Steven Stupecki, Jackson Golli and Matthew Stupecki; and (back) George Ohlemacher and Ethan Golli. Den leaders James Ohlemacher and Paul Simmons headed the service project and are hoping help from the community will allow the boys to finish the job. Photo courtesy Pack 3520