Will Dumond made it his mission to leave ELHS knowing that the marching band received the attention it deserves after a long history of achievements by getting a trophy case to display their awards and history.
He did this as his Eagle Scout project, helping him to reach the final tier of Boy Scouts while simultaneously helping the ELHS music community. His plan to get a trophy case for the marching band has been in the works for six months. Dumond began the project in September.
“Music has been a huge, huge part of my time here at the high school. I’ve been pretty involved in all aspects of music. I feel like music has helped me grow as a person and as a musician in general so I wanted to be able to give back to that, as well as provide something that would have a bigger impact than just a regular service project,” Dumond said. As the president of Tri-M and the Woodwind captain of the marching band, there is no doubt that music has had a major influence on him.
Additionally, he has been a part of the marching band and a musical ensemble at ELHS for all four years of high school and has attended Eastern Region, New England Music Festival (NEMFA), and All-State this year for music.
However, Dumond did not only choose the project to highlight his own appreciation for music- he also wanted to highlight the rich history of the marching band at ELHS.
“In the 90s we were actually very well-known on a national level and we even ended up playing at Ronald Reagan’s inauguration… What made it an especially cool project was that we were able to look at all the dates on the trophies. It shows how cool and deep the history of the band is, and it’s really cool that we get to share that with other people now. Also, we got new uniforms this year, so we ended up putting one of the old uniforms in there because those uniforms were used continuously for 40 years,” Dumond said.
After months of fundraising, Dumond’s efforts have proven to be a success in getting the band more recognition and appreciation.
“The project was really helpful because it’s a great way to showcase what we’ve done over the years, historically. We’re currently trying to be a new version of the marching band while still respecting our roots and history and that’s what he did,” Marching Band Director Justin Daly said.
To start up an Eagle project, scouts must first get a written plan in shape and get it approved by a council. Dumond completed most of his fundraising for the project through a GoFundMe on his mom’s Facebook as well as a table at a marching band show.
“It ended up taking a lot longer than I expected, but by the end of February we ended up having around $2,800 in total,” Dumond said.
An Eagle project can be anything that helps the community in a way that’s bigger than just doing service hours and that involves creating something yourself. This must be a project that will benefit a school, community, or religious group other than the BSA. It must demonstrate the Scout’s ability to plan, budget time and money, direct, and give leadership to others.
