Benchmark: Troop 7110 to award first female Eagle Scout

PHOTO BY BOB MOREHEAD | BGNN
Eagle Scout candidate Marguerite Martin and Barberton Fire Chief Stephen Ionno join the department’s duty section in welcoming the new benches at Station No. 1.

By BOB MOREHEAD
BGNN senior staff writer

BARBERTON  In 2017, the Boy Scouts of America started accepting girls in all its programs. Longtime Barberton Troop 110 spun up Troop 7110 to accommodate the ladies and it is poised to present its first Eagle Scout award.

Marguerite Martin, 18, lives in Norton, scouts in Barberton and is about to start her senior year at Firestone High School. She joined the troop in her freshman year and has been working a compressed schedule to meet the grueling Eagle requirements in time; national rules dictate that the application process has to be completed before the Scout’s 18th birthday. Martin made it by about a week.

“I approached Capt. (David) Polacek,” Martin said. “Originally, it was going to go in back but he suggested we move it to the front so it would be more useful for the 9/11 ceremony and the firemen.”

Martin and her volunteers replaced the gravel walkway behind Station No. 1’s Firefighter Memorial with a new concrete walk. They also built two varnished park benches with ornate router work and sat them on it. Firefighters can relax on them during their downtime and guests can use them during ceremonies.

Between May 25 and July 9, Martin’s team put in 225 hours on the project. Materials and labor were donated, including Ray Doll’s router work.