COLUMBUS, OH - Members of Cadette Girl Scout Troop 190 of Westerville have earned Girl Scouting's Silver Award for their restoration work on a historic log cabin at Paint Creek State Park in Ross County, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).
The Silver Award is the highest honor Cadette Girl Scouts can receive. It goes to individuals who complete a single community service project requiring 30 hours of work; earn a certain number of interest badges; and receive leadership and community service recognition.
According to ODNR, the six teens and their two leaders spent the last year painting and refurbishing the 200-year-old Williams Cabin, a focal point of the park's Pioneer Farm. The girls chinked (filled) the cabin's log exterior and cleaned and painted its interior. They recreated period window coverings and linens and cleared brush from the cabin's perimeter. Most significantly, they researched the cabin's history and created an educational program for Girl Scouts of all levels that is now available through the Girl Scouts, Seal Of Ohio Council.
Thanks to the efforts of these enterprising Girl Scouts, the Williams Cabin is likely to become a major draw for visitors to Paint Creek State Park, said Dan West, Ohio State Parks chief. We applaud their spirit of volunteerism in restoring this significant homestead for others to enjoy.
In researching the cabin's history, the scouts learned it was the childhood home of John S. Williams, an Ohio engineering pioneer who helped build the National Road (U.S. 40), the first steamboat to navigate the full length of the Ohio River, and two early Ohio railroads. Williams' family built the cabin in 1800 after relocating to Ohio Territory from North Carolina - a fact the scouts learned from an issue of The American Pioneer, a magazine Williams published briefly in the 1840s.
The Williams cabin originally stood just outside St. Clairsville in Belmont County. It was purchased by ODNR and moved to Paint Creek State Park in the 1970s.
Troop 190 will host a "Sample Chores Day" at the cabin on April 20. Other scouts are encouraged to attend in order to learn about day-to-day life on the Ohio frontier. Girl Scout leaders can call 614-487-8101 for more information. In addition, members of Troop 190 will hold a public open house at the cabin from 1 to 4 p.m. on April 21.
Girl Scout Cadette Troop 190 members are: Mindi Irwin, Erin Monteith, Katie O'Kane, Sarah Risoya and Brittany Schoelkopf of Westerville; and Julie Kent of Utica. Troop leaders are Sherri Monteith and Melanie Irwin of Westerville.