Eagle Scout honored at Grand Island Board of Education meeting

Story and Photo by Alice Gerard

Senior Contributing Writer

It took eight months to design and build the stand for the cupola for the former Town Hall, said Eagle Scout Luke Gworek.

It also took some time to decide on the right Eagle Scout project, said Luke, who described the entire process from coming up with an idea for an Eagle Scout project to the project’s dedication at Monday’s Board of Education meeting, held at Grand Island High School.

“To gain the Eagle Scout award, you have to do a project that helps your community,” Luke said. “At first, I was struggling to find the project to do. I didn’t want to do something common like planting flowers or weeding a garden bed or something. I was over at the Marstons’ house one night and was talking to our wonderful town supervisor. He gave me the idea of a project, knowing I can weld. It was to help put on display the original Town Hall cupola. From that moment, I was in. It was a great project. It was a lot of fun and a lot of work coordinating the historical society and the town and making them all work together and not fight.”

Luke said the stand he built is not actually visible to the public. According to Supervisor Peter Marston, who spoke at the dedication of the cupola on Sept. 8, 2024, “Luke did all the CAD drawings. (He designed) what you don’t see. It’s the structure, the foundation of what’s keeping this thing off the ground and safe.”

The process of going from an idea to a structure was complex, Luke explained.

“I had to design a stand for this cupola to sit on, so I was in the tech wing for about two to three months designing CAD drawings of what I wanted the stand to look like,” he said.” I was going back and forth, making different revisions of things I wanted to change and things I wanted to add in. It was a lot of work. I give a huge thanks to our CAD teacher, Mr. (Carl) Koppmann, who taught me to use all the software.”

Luke described the project as something he did independently, mainly because of the “skill and knowledge you need to be able to successfully complete a project like this.”

The materials for the stand were donated to the town, he explained. If they had been purchased, they would have cost “just under $1,000.” In terms of labor, it took approximately 50 hours of work to design and construct the structure.”

Grand Island Central School District Superintendent Dr. Brian Graham said, “This is really a testament to your leadership, hard work, engineering and your commitment, not only to your school, but to the town. It’s excellent work. Congratulations.”

Sue Marston, vice president of the Board of Education, said, “I just want to add, as I always do when we have an Eagle Scout standing in front of us … first of all, I think that Luke really minimized what he did. It’s an awesome project, and he worked really hard with the town and with the Historical Society. If you want to see it, it stands in front of Town Hall, very tall and very proud. (Becoming an Eagle Scout) isn’t just a two-year commitment. Becoming an Eagle Scout is really a commitment from first grade on.

“Congratulations to you and your family. Mr. Marston and I are very proud of you. I know that Mr. Marston is very proud to have been a small part of your journey. Congratulations.”

Luke will be honored for his achievement at the next Grand Island Town Board meeting, scheduled for 8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20, at Town Hall.