BALDWINSVILLE — When the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered BSA Troop 71’s usual meeting place, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Albert Glenn Richardson Post 153 offered the troop a new space to gather.
Now, Gianlucca VanCour has returned the favor through his Eagle Scout project. With the help of his fellow scouts and their families, the 16-year-old Baker High School has given new life to VFW Post 153’s memorial garden.
The garden frames a brick memorial containing the names of about 120 Baldwinsville veterans.
“We just put 34 in this year, and six of them were Desert Storm veterans that we served with,” said Jay Taylor, commander of VFW Post 153.
Taylor said the Boy Scouts and the VFW share common values of community service.
“We believe in community affairs and helping those we meet on our path,” Taylor said.
VanCour and his team of 24 volunteers pulled out overgrown trees and shrubs, replaced the old wood mulch with landscape fabric and stone, planted about three dozen new plants and installed new lighting.
“At dusk the lights come on — they’re beautiful,” Taylor said.
Taylor guided VanCour through the process of revamping the garden, suggesting new plants that would thrive such as hydrangeas, holly and lilies.
“It helps knowing that we made everything look nicer and work better overall so it would last longer without as much upkeep as the previous memorial garden,” VanCour said.
“We’re older and it’s difficult for us to be doing this work anymore,” Taylor said of the VFW members.
Troop 71 also installed a new exhaust fan in the VFW pole barn to improve airflow.
VanCour’s mother, Daniela Giacomelli, said the troop is grateful for its relationship with the VFW.
“They opened up their doors to us during COVID,” she said.
“We, VFW Post 153, thank Gianlucca, Troop 71, the scout leaders, and their parents for all their hard work and endeavors in upgrading our memorial,” Taylor said. “It’s truly an honor to have that done for our veterans.”
The VFW and Troop 71 will cut the ribbon on the garden this Friday evening, Sept. 17, ahead of the post’s annual POW/MIA recognition and flag retirement ceremony. Boy Scouts will fold the flag as Scoutmaster Chris VanCour reads the meaning of each fold.
