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Community Corner

Eagle Scout Eric Weng Contributes to Union County Department of Parks & Renewal

His motto: "Be prepared and have fun."

As a member of the Scouts since the fourth grade, Eric Weng, 18, said he's learned two very important lessions. "The Scout Motto, 'be prepared' was the definitive lesson I learned from scouting. Without proper planning, things can really go south really quickly," Weng said.

"Another thing I learned is to have fun, no matter how serious something is, you wouldn't be doing it if you didn't like it so enjoy it while it lasts."

Weng is a member of Troop 368, led by Rick Jurgens. He said he is proud of the fact the he received his Bronze Palm one day before his eighteenth birthday and takes great pride in achieving Eagle Scout status. 

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"It felt really great because it proved to myself that I was capable of handling large-scale projects and working well with others. It was a culmination of everything I learned in Scouting since I first joined," Weng said.

For his project, Weng worked with the Union County Department of Parks and Renewal to restore a deer exclosure in the Passaic River Park in Berkeley Heights.

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"I replaced the previous netting with 200 feet of heavy duty deer netting and planted approximately 80 saplings inside of the exclosure. In addition, I refurbished the area around it by laying down a new trail as well as replacing rotting benches that were located near the exclosure," Weng said.

In addition, he said he and the team he led also replaced a gate meant to keep vehicles out and installed several birdhouses for the upcoming bird mating seasons. 

He said the deer exclosure had been damaged by recent rains and flooding.

"The purpose of the exclosure was to emphasize the impact that deer overpopulation had on the park by isolating a small pocket of plants and compare its growth to that outside of the fence. It couldn't really do its job if it as knocked down," Weng said.

He said, "The Passaic River Park is a wonderful yet under-appreciated part of Berkeley Heights and every improvement would help us become more aware of the environment around us."

In addition to help from his parents, he said about 7 to 10 volunteers worked with him on the project.

"It was a big project, so I always needed a lot of people to help. There were barely any moments when we could stop to catch our breath," Weng said.

He began the initial steps of his project in early November of 2010 and completed the project in late June 2011.

He said, "It was a lot of hard work that I could not have finished without my volunteers, who were usually scouts or close school friends."

"I felt good about the final result because of the work my volunteers and I had put in which was nearly 220 hours, but I thought it would take much longer."

Weng said, at the end of the last day they looked around and realized how much of the landscape they had improved with the work they completed.

He said, "By taking this project on, I helped the Union County Deptartment of Parks and Renewal reconstruct the deer exclosure which was one of their priorities, and they were unable to send a group to do so because of their many other projects."

"I think with my project, I went beyond their expectations and helped people who happen to stroll by the area appreciate the park even more."

Weng said three of the volunteers were three of his closest friends since elementary school, who were also working on their own Eagle Projects at the time.

"I feel it was really lucky we had all been working on our projects the same time because we each understood the responsibilities the project demanded and the challenges that would be encountered, so we were all eager to help each other when every we could," Weng said.

He said within two months, each finished their Eagle Board of Reviews.

"We then had an Eagle Court of Honor for four, a feat that is rarely achieved. It was really special to begin scouting with them and see it through with them." 

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