A McNary High School sophomore recently led a project, along with Keizer Parks Director Robert Johnson, to construct a trail for Palma Ceia Park.
Niklaus Elder, a Boy Scout Troop 20 member working toward Eagle Scout status, got the idea by recalling that his brother Sanuel did a similar project several years ago in a different part of the state.
“The purpose of this was to build a safe trail for the people in our community to enjoy the Willamette River,” he said.
Niklaus, three other members of Troop 20 and a group of members of his Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and LDS missionaries worked on the project in September and October.
The project totaled more than 323 hours, he said.
Construction cost $2,118.70, $2,000 of which was donated to the park by Local 290 of the Plumbers and Pipefitters in Tualatin. “We had to clear over 60 yards of blackberries, English ivy, dead trees, logs and other vegetation,“ Niklaus said.
The $2,000 from the union was used to buy 52 yards of dirt, 55 tons of gravel as 181 cinder block pavers, which the Scouts and church members threw into the river bank along with the vegetation. The park will use the materials to clear out an area for picnic tables to enhance the park’s benefits.
“Cleaning out the bank was super fun,” Niklaus said.