Ojai Valley News Blog

Shaun Boynton enjoys the finished project.

Oct. 9, 2012

Tim Dewar, publisher@ojaivalleynews.com

A chance ride home from school one day planted a seed in Shaun Boynton’s head. This weekend, that seed led to more planting, but it was ground cover this time. Boynton, an Eagle Scout candidate from BSA Troop 504, led a project to restore a memorial garden at Matilija Junior High School. “One day my uncle, Andrew Peterson, picked me up from school and we were walking past the garden area,” Boynton explained. “My uncle went to school with Katee Edwards from first grade until her passing of cancer in the eighth grade. They were good friends and he mentioned how sad it was to see to the memorial garden such a mess and suggested that maybe that could be a prospective Eagle Scout project for me.” Boynton, whose Uncle Andrew is an Eagle Scout, attended Matilija Junior High School from 2010 to 2012. “I gave it some thought, and began doing some research on what I could possibly put there and to bring back its beauty,” he explained. “That was the beginning of a project that turned out even nicer than I had expected.” Boynton said once his project was approved by his Scout committee and Scout council, he again took his uncle’s advise and contacted Katee’s parent’s Don and Cheree Edwards. “I was able to locate the Edwards family, they do still live in Ojai.  I gave them a call, we spoke a couple of times on the phone and we then met in person along with the principle of Matilija Junior High School. Boynton said the meeting went well, and Cheree Edwards even offered some suggestions to go along with his plans. Friday, Boynton and his group of 32 helpers began the work.  “We had to remove some very old ground cloth and tons and tons of weeds and roots,” he noted.  Once they finished preparing the soil and removing old bricks, the group learned the ancient art and use of a “water level” from Max Schuman to make sure the garden has the proper grade. Once the ground was level and graded properly, the workers dug 6-inch footings around the perimeter of the garden. Saturday, the group was back at it, planting ground cover and a Krape Myrtle tree that will have white blooms. They also poured footings for a new brick outer ring. Sunday, the final work day, saw the addition of stepping stones and white fill rocks. Boynton estimates his project included 283 man-hours. “This project could not have been done without the help of my fellow scouts and adult leaders,” Boynton added. “I had many donations from the Ojai community, including from Jay McArthur of Ojai Lumber, Jody from Flora Gardens, Brunno Dubeau of Builders Mart and Greg Webster of Greg Rents, along with monetary donations from very generous people. Once again this could never have been completed without ALL their help!”