Residents of The Baddour Center are enjoying the walking path created by local Boy Scout John Norris as part of his Eagle Scout project. The walking path stretches across a large meadow on The Baddour Center’s campus, providing a safer area for residents to walk from their homes to the buildings located at the front of campus.

“It’s a shortcut to work, and we don’t have to walk in the grass!” said Val, a resident of The Baddour Center.

Employees at The Center are also pleased with the completion of Norris’s project.

“John and his crew did a great job,” said Parke Pepper, Executive Director of The Baddour Center. “The path blends nicely with our campus and creates a much safer walkway for residents. It’s a good feeling to not worry about someone getting hurt because they stepped in a hole.”

Norris, the son of Willard and Kriss Norris and a 2010 graduate of Senatobia High School, has provided volunteers for other organizations, including Cornerstone Rehabilitation and Senatobia Convalescent Center, but this project is his largest project to date.

“Earning Eagle Scout status is hard, and most Boy Scouts don’t get it,” Norris said. “It’s a way to show leadership and help others in the community. It’s going to be good experience for me when I serve in the National Guard, too.”

According to Kriss Norris, Willard, who was assisting John with labor during the interview, hand-carved canes for his Eagle Scout Project and was in the U.S. Air Force. Like his father, John plans to achieve Eagle Scout status and join a branch of the U.S. military.

“Boy Scouts has been a great thing for our family,” Kriss Norris said. “We are able to give back to the community as a family, and our sons have had a chance to gain leadership and work experience.

“You can’t lose,” concluded Norris. “The non-profit gets so much out of the project and so does the person doing something for them.”

The Baddour Center agrees.

“The walking path is a great example of how people can come together and accomplish great things,” Pepper said. “We appreciate their hard work and willingness to make other people’s lives better. I hope doing for others is a trait these young men continue beyond their Boy Scout days.”

Following two months of planning and help from many of his friends at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Senatobia, John Norris, a member of Boy Scouts Troop 235, began his Eagle Scout Project at The Baddour Center on March 19.

According to the Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project Planning Guide, the Eagle project should provide leadership of others as well as provide a service to a worthy institution other than Boy Scouts. There is also a step-by-step planning process involved that Norris was required to adhere to, including submitting the project idea, compiling a notebook recounting the details of the project and an interview with the Chickasaw Scout Council in Memphis.

“I hope to have the project completed in two days,” said John Norris when he arrived at The Baddour Center to begin the hefty task. “Baddour provided the materials, and I have coordinated with them to provide the labor: other scouts and people from my church.

“They [Chickasaw Scout Council] approved my project the next day,” said Norris, proud of the quality of project he submitted and impressed with the quick project approval.

The walking path is pea gravel with railroad cross ties along the border and a plastic lining base to reduce weed growth.

The Baddour Center’s mission is to provide a model residential community for adults with intellectual disabilities in an environment that promotes maximum growth intellectually, spiritually, physically, socially, emotionally, and vocationally.

For general information about The Baddour Center, contact Cassie Smith, Public Relations Coordinator, at locally at 662.652.0100, ext. 1231, directly at 662.3666931 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Visit The Baddour Center at www.baddour.org.

 

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