Eagle Scout Provides Garden For St. Paul's

If the Eagle Scouts teach us anything, it's the importance of community service and helping those in need. Alex Ofori, a Lynnfield resident and soon-to-be junior at Governor's Academy, emulated this tenet of the Eagle Scouts by providing with a vegetable garden and drip irrigation system.

Ofori started in Cub Scouts in the 3rd grade. By 5th grade, he was a Boy Scout, and over the past eight or nine years, has worked his way up to the highest level of scouting, Eagle Scout.

“My friends did it, so I joined up,” Ofori recalls when asked why he choose to pursue Scouts. “I stayed with it though for the nature and camping. I also like canoeing and different types of boating [...] The real rewards come though from community service opportunities.”

Ofori has had hands-on training with other Eagle Scouts whom he helped with such projects as cleaning out Lynnfield High School's attic and sending packages to troops overseas.

When asked about the details on his own Eagle Scout project, Ofori said: “First, I set up a fence for the St. Paul's vegetable garden and then I made a drip irrigation system to help save on water usage.”

A drip irrigation system, also known as trickle irrigation or microirrigation, is an irrigation scheme which helps to save on water and fertilizer by letting water drip slowly, either onto the roots themselves or into the soil. Drip irrigation generally uses narrow tubes which deliver water directly to the source.

“We collected rainwater in barrels and used the drip irrigation system to go right to the vegetable bed,” added Ofori.

Ofori also provided St. Paul's church officials and dedicated members with upkeep measures and instructions on how to operate the system.

When asked how he came upon this idea for St. Paul's, Ofori said, “as I was looking for an Eagle Project, Father Mike at St. Paul's helped me plan it all out. It seemed like an interesting way to help out, something a little different.”

Ofori's mention of something, “a little different,” very much describes his personality and ambitions. A nature lover, Ofori is currently deciding on which direction he wants to take his life. Ofori mentioned law or sports analysis for a career. In his spare time, Ofori enjoys the outdoors another way, by playing soccer, basketball and lacrosse for Governor's Academy. He's also quite the disciplinarian, training hard in karate at a local dojo where he has earned his black belt.