Eagle Scout gifts Warwick 14 tables for Wickham Woodlands Park

Thanks to a gift by Pine Bush resident Travis Coleman this past February, the Warwick Lions Club Community Pavilion in the Wickham Woodlands Park off of Kings Highway will have 14 tables for the public to enjoy.

Last September, Coleman approached the Warwick Town Board about building eight picnic tables as part of his proposed Eagle Scout Project. The town board unanimously approved the project, prompting Coleman to work on gathering funds to pay for the required supplies. Coleman then came up with a strategy to send letters describing the project to organizations throughout the town, as well as his family and friends. His letter offered donors the ability to sponsor a table for $250 in exchange for having their name or the name of a loved one inscribed on a plaque. The scheme was a success, and he raised enough money to sponsor 14 tables, two of which are handicapped accessible at the advice of the Eagle review board.

According to Coleman, the sponsorship requests kept coming, so he asked donors not to sponsor any more tables, but instead to send a donation for food so he could feed the volunteers who would be helping him make the tables. Over a period of three days, Coleman and his volunteers reportedly put in over 200 hours at the Walker Valley Sportsmen’s Association’s garage to construct the tables. On Sunday, February 26, Warwick Town Supervisor Jesse Dwyer met Coleman and his team on site to accept the tables. Dwyer thanked Coleman for his hard work and said that the tables will be a great asset to the community.

But why would a scout in Troop 37 out of Pine Bush help the Warwick community? When he was originally looking for a project, his aunt, Melissa Stevens, who currently serves as president of the Warwick Fire Department, told him that the town was looking for tables for the Lions Club’s new pavilion in the park. Coleman explained that while he lives in Pine Bush, his family has deep roots in the Warwick community on both is mother and father’s side.

In addition to the many generous donors, Coleman also had plenty of family help. His uncle, Mike Coleman, reached out to Kevin Shuback of Shuback Sod Farms who donated a truck to bring the tables to the park.

“It made me really proud to see how a community comes together,” said Coleman. He expressed thanks to the following people and organizations for helping to make the project a success: Lions Club of Warwick, George and Kathy McManus, Raymond Hose Company, Fine Kitchens and Baths by John Welch, Werners, TS Purta Funeral Home, Warwick Fire Department, Catherine Stevens, Daniel Harter Jr., Lori and Mark Mosher, Middletown Downtown, Inc., Engine Company No 3, Tom and Bonnie Coleman, Florida Fire Department, and Jim Rohner.