(above) Charlotte Koenig and Lily Ternay revitalized Rahway Girl Scout Park to earn their Silver Awards.
Rahway Girl Scout Park
Submitted by Robyn E. Koenig
On September 14, 2019, Charlotte Koenig and Lily Ternay of Girl Scout Troop 41748 of Rahway reopened a small park that they had been working on since July. They have completed their Silver Award Project which is the second highest award a Girl Scout can receive. They needed to complete 50+ hours of a community project in which they came up with, executed with help of their team of community members and follow through with their plan.
(above) Charlotte Koenig and Lily Ternay had the gazebo repaired and repainted to brighten up the park.
The girls’ project was to make a local park located at the junction of West Emerson and West Milton more colorful for Rahway and make it more usable for the community. The park consisted of a gazebo and not much else. The girls’ plan was to redo the gazebo and fix any problems with its structure, add seating to the park so the community can use it more and also add a bridge so local Girl Scout troops can use it for their Bridging ceremonies.
Back in July, Lily and Charlotte met with Mayor Giacobbe and Joe Brown to discuss their project and get approval. They were on board and loved the girl’s ideas from day one. The Rahway DPW was also an integral part in this project. They completed all of the repairs that the gazebo required. Throughout the summer, the girls received about $1800 in donations, goods and services. Many members of the community came to the park to watch the girls complete their project. The girls worked through heat and sun to complete this by September. The last coat of paint was put on September 7.
On September 14, the girls reopened the park with about 40 people from the community in attendance.
(above) A bridge was added to the park so that local Girl Scout troops could use it for their Bridging ceremonies.
Mayor Giacobbe, who was present along with council members Mr. Bresenhan and Mr. Brown, announced that the park will officially be called “Rahway Girl Scout Park.” Along with the gazebo repairs and new paint, the girls added two wooden benches, to increase seating, that were made by Rahway local, Matt Brophy. The benches were dedicated to Margaret M. Woolley and Cathy Rozanski, who were an integral part of the youth in Rahway through girl scouting and school work, respectively. They also painted the bridge with the words of the Girl Scout Law.
The community came together to help Lily and Charlotte’s plan and dream come true. The girls are done with the process and are required to complete paperwork about their experience and submit it to council.
The girls would like to thank all of Rahway for their support and togetherness over the past few months. The reason they called their project, “Project Speedboat” is because that is the name of the blue color on the gazebo and it was their favorite.
