By Liz Page
STAMFORD – Another Eagle scout is spreading his wings, literally, to create an interactive exhibit that will welcome visitors to a local natural history preserve near Stamford. Liam Hanway has developed a board with the wing spans of five different birds. On its opposite side is a chalk board to welcome preserve visitors, mostly young people who come to learn about natural resources of the Catskills.
An educational assistant at the Michael Kudish Natural History Preserve, Hanway has worked at the preserve over the summer in the woods program.
Hanway cut out each of the birds and their wing span, placing them over top of each other to allow visitors to step up to the board and measure their arm span with the birds to see which bird's wingspan they most closely match. The largest wingspan is that of the eagle at 81-inches. The smallest of the birds is the Kestrel, with a 22-inch average wing span.
Hanway said it took him about a month to gather the materials, cut out the bird silhouettes, paint them and prime them. Once he had all the materials for the posts, he returned to install the plaque.
Hanway said he did get some help from his scoutmasters and Joe Dianich, who came in to drill the post holes for the billboard. "It really didn't require a lot of manpower," said Hanway, who has been in scouting since he was 5 or 6. Now a senior at Stamford Central School, he said it was only a natural progression after earning merit badges to continue on to the Eagle scout rank, which only about 2 percent of scouts attain.
He is the fifth Eagle scout from Jefferson Troop 50 to reach the monumental milestone within the past two years.
He enjoys camping the most and has served as a patrol leader for a few years which, he said, has provided him with some valuable leadership skills.
"I really like being in nature and earning all of the badges."
He admits his dad, Darren Hanway, has served as a scoutmaster or assistant scoutmaster, which he is currently. "He has been a scoutmaster along with me most of the time, which has helped to keep me on track. As I was moving up the ranks, I realized it would be good to go all the way."
He has served as a patrol leader since he was 10 or 11 and had learned the leadership role as well as learning a great deal about nature. He enjoys serving as an assistant educator at the preserve, which is all about nature.
David Turan, executive director of the Michael Kudish Natural History Preserve described Hanway's project as a selfie board, which is located with a beautiful view of the valley and hillsides surrounding the preserve. "It's great for the preserve. It has been on our wish lists for quite a while, and now we have one."
He went on to say that Hanway has been a student at the preserve who has worked his way up to an assistant educator, helping to teach others about the natural resources of the Catskill Mountains. "He is really good with the kids," said Turan.
Liam Hanway, of Stamford, stands next to his community service project for his Eagle Scout rank. The interactive board uses the wing span of birds to welcome visitors and invites them to check their wingspan as they enter the Michel Kudish Natural History Preserve in Stamford.
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