Boy Scouts revived the faded colors of Bretton Woods playground over the weekend, combining patriotism with a learning experience.
Bear Cub Scouts from Pack 589, based out of Bretton Woods Elementary School, worked with their parents on Oct. 12 and Oct. 13 to repaint a long faded, often unnoticed map of the United States on the fifth grade playground.
"My son plays soccer on fields next to the playground. If you look closely, you can see the faded U.S.A. map from the field. It's so faded, no one knows where it is," said Melissa LoVerde, den leader of Pack 589.
On Oct. 12, Joseph LoVerde and Yash Merchant met to prep the old map be going over the outlines of the states, tracing the outlines.
"I figured if we outlined the day before, the boys will know where each color goes," Melissa LoVerde said.
The Boy Scouts had sent letter to various home improvement stores serving the Commack area, seeking painting supplies and possible donation of special striping paint - the same type used to paint road markings - to refinish the map. Lowe's in Stony Brook donated one can, while Lowe's in Medford donated four cans of paint to the project.
The pack put out a donation jar on Bretton Woods' Open School night and recieved more than $50 in donations, which helped in covering supplies.
At 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 13, Michael Singh and Dominick Adamo were the first to grab blue paint and fill in Nevada. The state of Idaho was then painted yellow by Anish Shenoy and Joseph LoVerde. The boys and their parents worked together, from the middle of the map out repainting states in yellow, blue, orange, green and pink.
Matthew Viskewich said that he "had an awesome time & enjoyed painting Louisiana and Wyoming orange."
Other Boy Scout who participated included Andre Graca, Caden Holland and Anthony Fernandez. Additional supplies were donated by Caldara and Sons Corp.
Take a look at the before and after pictures poste in the photo gallery above.
