Teen makes restoring cemetery Eagle Scout project

Daniel Pfauth saw a Blacktower Cemetery overgrown with weeds and grass and broken headstones as opportunity for himself and his community.

CNJ staff photo: Tony Bullocks

Daniel Pfauth, 13, of Clovis mixes cement at Blacktower Cemetery earlier this month to use to caulk stones to a monument leading into the cemetery. Pfauth's Eagle Scout project is restoring the cemetery. Pfauth have been in scouting since the third grade.

Pfauth felt sad for people with relatives buried in the cemetery but understood that cleaning the cemetery located west of the Chavez West Housing addition near Cannon Air Force Base could serve as his Eagle Scout project.

He will become an Eagle Scout once his repair and beautification of Blacktower Cemetery is complete. According to Pfauth, scouts typically reach the Eagle Scout rank at age 16 or 17. Pfauth is 13.

"This will help the loved ones and relatives of those buried in the cemetery know that their relatives are a little more respected than they used to be," said Pfauth, who joined the Boy Scouts of America in third grade, a few months after reading some of the program's literature in school.

Since April, Pfauth has spent hours at the cemetery cutting grass, collecting trash, filling in deep holes and leveling the ground to allow safe walking. He has also installed a pedestal that will display the names of those buried in the cemetery and will construct a path leading to the pedestal.

Pfauth said he received help from friends, troop members and the Knights of Columbus, but completed most of the work on his own. Pfauth said the project is nearly complete, with only one 3-foot hole left to fill and sheet metal to be mounted on the pedestal. Pfauth said it will be complete when he returns from vacation in a few weeks.

Pfauth said being a scout has taught him outdoor survival skills he can utilize on camping trips. He prefers the outdoors to indoors.

"Another thing I like about scouts is that you get to go out and help other people," Pfauth said. "You get to do projects that help other people besides yourself. You also get to meet new people."

Pfauth plans to join the Civil Air Patrol and eventually become a U.S Air Force pilot like his father.

Clay Rains, scout master of Troop 411, assisted Pfauth with the Blacktower Cemetery project. Rains described Pfauth as an outgoing boy who follows directions well.

"This project really amazed me, how quick he actually did it, and how much he worked," Rains said.

"He's a good kid. I've backed him on everything he does."