Underfoot Eagle Scouts Volunteer at Camp Durant
Over a weekend in May, the Underfoot Engineering team rolled up their sleeves and volunteered at Camp Durant, home to the Occoneechee Council, Scouting America. The two days were reserved as a council-wide service weekend, and a large contingent of Scouts and leaders came to complete projects at the camp.
Joe Pizzi, Area 7 President of the Southern Region of Boy Scouts of America and Underfoot’s contact at Camp Durant, organized the weekend’s activities. “It was easy to identify projects for them to work on,” he said. “We rely heavily on Scouts and other volunteers to help us maintain our camps, so the more the merrier!”
The Underfoot team guided and supervised Scouts as they constructed new information kiosks at 13 campsites throughout the property. They also served breakfast for everyone in the dining hall.
Several of the Underfoot team members feel a special connection to the volunteer work at Camp Durant because they are Eagle Scouts.
“I felt a lot of pride seeing so many scouts walk the same path I did several years ago,” said Civil Designer Ryan Donley. “I have fond memories of my time in Scouting, and I was happy to see the Scouts living in the moment and creating their own fond memories. It’s great that we get to give back to the community in so many ways.”
Land Designer Michael Peterson earned most of his merit badges to achieve his Eagle Scout rank at Camp Durant, first as a Scout from 2005-2011 and then as a leader from 2011-2018.
“The trip was a wonderful experience that brought back many memories,” he said. “Attending camp as a youth helped me grow and become a leader not just at the troop level but also at the camp level. Working at camp helped me develop strong working skills that carried over to my career here at Underfoot Engineering.”
Underfoot is continuing to build its partnership with the camp by updating the waterfront area.
Underfoot’s work on the waterfront area is a continuation of updates made a few years ago, which included installing new docks and swimming platforms.
The goal of this next phase is to make the beach and gathering areas safer, more usable, and better able to manage the erosion impacts caused by heavy rains. It also prepares the land for a third phase, which is the construction of a multi-functional facility for all aquatics programs.
Michael worked with Vice President Mike Roselli and an outside team to design a new layout for the area, as well as Assistant Project Manager Jeff Taboada on refining the layout with the grading requirements.
On the volunteer weekend, Michael showed the team around the camp to discuss current or previous improvements, as well as talk to old coworkers about the waterfront project.
“The new Camp Durant waterfront project feels like a passion project to me,” said Michael, who said it was his favorite spot as a camper. “I felt a great sense of pride in being able to give back to a place that gave me so much.”
