Last week Boy Scout Joe Desole, of Troop 72, received the support of the Marlborough Town Board to build an octagon gazebo, 12 feet in diameter, at the Town Park to complete the final requirement to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.

Desole suggested three locations at the park but the board unanimously said they liked the spot on a bluff that overlooks Round Pond.

Supervisor Al Lanzetta went to the park with Desole and his father to see the location.

“It’s a beautiful site and I think that would be the best spot,” he said. “It’s right on the knoll there and I think it’s an ideal place for it,” Lanzetta said.

Councilman Ed Molinelli concurred, “I think it deserves to go on the water; I think it looks really nice. I don’t think you have to go any further.” Councilman Scott Corcoran said this spot, “overlooks the whole park;” with Councilman Alan Koenig adding, “I’m sold on that, I’m good.”

Desole hopes to solicit donations for the needed materials using his paypal account [paypal.me/JosephDesole] and through his father who has contacts with many of the local business owners in town. He estimated the cost at $3,500. He is hoping to break ground this fall and be finished before the snow falls.

Lanzetta said Desole has taken on a, “very ambitious project, kudos to you and your Dad.”

Desole said there will be seating for a maximum of 14 people along the inside of the gazebo and it will be open in the center. Cedar shakes or asphalt shingles will be used on the roof.

The Town Board urged Desole to “go for it.” He said a little more planning will go into the project but the documents that he submitted to the board, “are the template; the main idea.”

Lanzetta told Desole that if anything drastically changes to let him know and he will inform the rest of the Town Board.

“I appreciate you doing a presentation to the Town Board and I thank you,” he said, with Desole responding, “Thank you for giving me the opportunity.”

In a subsequent interview, Desole said he was surprised at how quickly the Town Board got behind his project. He said he expected more questions but the board’s swift approval now allows him to move forward.

“I wanted to do something that’s going to be there for a long time, something that’s big, something ambitious, something to stand out with plants around it, so for them to support this was really nice,” he said.

Desole said the chosen site, “just seems perfect and you can see it anywhere you are from across the pond.”

Desole will be asking some of his fellow scouts to help build the gazebo.

“It’s required of Eagle Scouts to include two boy scout members to help out,” he said, adding that he has to keep a log of who turned out to help and for how long and what was accomplished each day of the project.

Desole said this serves as an example to the younger scouts, recalling the fun he had helping out on other Eagle Scout projects in his early days of scouting.

The rules to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout requires that a scout’s project must be completed before turning 18; Desole hits that watershed on March 24, 2021.
“I’m doing it now and I’m working hard and I’m trying to get everything done as soon as possible,” he said.

When asked how scouting has impacted his life, Desole responded with two words; leadership qualities. He said the younger scouts, “need somebody to look up to where they can see what they could become and what they could do.” He said it is important for the scouts coming up to see what an older scout has achieved, which could spur them on in their own endeavors.

Desole said receiving the nod from the board was an important step in the process.

“It’s exciting now to even be at this point, to actually get to working on it is gonna feel great. And then to see it done, I can’t imagine what I’m gonna feel.”