Visitors to the Sound Avenue Nature Preserve on Sound Avenue in Baiting Hollow will have an easier time finding their way around the trails, thanks to a new information kiosk installed as an Eagle Scout service project by 17-year-old Anthony Mango of Wading River.
Anthony, a Scout with Troop 94 in Wading River, took on the kiosk project after town officials reached out to his troop to suggest the kiosk project for an aspiring Eagle Scout, he said in an interview today at the preserve site. He happened to be searching for an Eagle project, he said, so he volunteered.
“It was great for the community, and I could see how putting in this sign could be beneficial to the park and the preserve,” Anthony said.
The kiosk is built of 6” by 6” posts and a wood frame display with a locking plexiglass door. It is topped by a wood frame, shingled roof. Its two components — the posts with signboard and the roof — together weigh about 500 pounds, Anthony’s father Ken Mango estimated.
The project required more than 50 hours of planning, design and construction.
“This is an informational kiosk sign, which is going to advertise basically whatever the town wants to put about the park, like where the trails are, and any kind of information about the park that they might want to let other people know,” Anhtony said.
Anthony and his father, who assisted him with the design and construction, were on hand today as a crew from the Riverhead Town Buildings and Grounds Division installed the structure. Town Board members and members of the town’s Open Space Committee and Recreation committee were also at the preserve to watch the installation.
The 15-acre preserve, located just east of Dorothy P. Flint 4-H Camp, has about a mile of mulched walking trails and native shrub plantings. Riverhead Town acquired the site in 2006 using Community Preservation Funds and opened it to the public on Oct. 6, 2010. It was the town’s first officially designated nature preserve, according to the Open Space Committee.
“The Open Space Committee is proud to see young community members like Anthony take such initiative,” Open Space Committee Chairwoman Janis Leonti said. “Projects like this kiosk not only enhance our natural spaces but also strengthen the connection between our residents and the environment we’ve worked hard to preserve.”
Anthony, a Shoreham-Wading River High School senior who aspires to earn a degree in physical education and eventually become a health teacher, said he looks forward to hiking on the trails at the preserve.
RiverheadLOCAL photos by Denise Civiletti
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