New bricks are added every year to the walkways in Leominster's Carter Park as part of a long-term project to honor current and past military veterans.
As a result, they aren't in any specific order -- and until recently, visitors had no way to look up a specific brick's location. Nathaniel Fiedler, 15, fixed that problem in 2008 by counting more than 2,000 bricks and recording them alphabetically by location for a new directory kiosk he built in the park for his Eagle Scout project.
"We had to go and find every single brick in the park and catalog the names," he said. "The whole project took about a year to do, start to finish."
Fiedler, a Leominster resident and member of Boy Scout Troop 11, has been involved in Scouting
Fiedler first talked with city Veterans Services Officer Richard Voutour about the logistics of the directory project, he said Wednesday.
Then he had to go before the city's Historical Commission for approval, he said.
Fiedler, a freshman at St. John's High School in Shrewsbury, also had to solicit sponsorship for the project. The Maki Corporation building supplier let him buy materials at cost, he said.
"The work was done with the help of family and friends," he said.
Fiedler asked woodworker Jack Haley to build the frame for the directory; Fiedler and helpers built the structure
"I feel good about it, because I know I helped a lot of people," he said of the completed project. "Mr. Voutour told me that veterans have given us everything we have in America. It just feels good to give a little something back."
Fiedler put together a computer database with all the veterans' names on it and said the directory can be easily updated as more bricks are added.
The directory is protected by a fiberglass case, and there is plenty of room to add more names.
Mayor Dean J. Mazzarella said Fiedler's project is a significant contribution to the park, which has a lengthy history tied to military service.
Visitors who had bought a brick to honor a family member or friend in the past had to try to remember the exact location, something that became increasingly daunting as the memorial brick project grew.
"It was pretty easy to find your brick when there were 50 of them, but now that there's thousands of bricks, when you got there, it turned into, 'Oh, jeez, where is my dad or my uncle?'" he said. "I think a lot of people find it fascinating to look at them all. But sometimes when someone's coming in from out of town, they just want to search for theirs."
Fiedler's two older brothers, Matthew and Alex, are Eagle Scouts, something that makes parents Betsy and Steve Fiedler very proud.
"It gives them confidence and teaches them how to be leaders," Betsy Fiedler said. "It gives them skills they will use for life."
Nathaniel Fiedler said he'll likely stay involved in Scouting to help some younger local Scouts move up the ranks.
He has stayed with Scouting for so long because it provides some adventure opportunities he wouldn't otherwise have -- like a recent white-water rafting trip -- and because of the leadership skills he's gained, he said.
"It gives you some advantages, like in group projects, you know how to work with people on a task," he said. "You know how to break a problem down so it seems easier."
Fiedler said he plans to earn the rest of the required 21 merit badges to become an Eagle Scout, then present his project to a panel of judges, this spring.
Fiedler said he doesn't know yet where he will look at colleges, though the baritone saxophone player said he wants to continue studying music throughout his education.
Font Resize
