Wheaton Rotary Club Restores Boy Scout Cabin

Boy scouts in Wheaton will soon have a freshly painted, refurbished cabin at Northside Park thanks to Wheaton Rotary Club members who committed their weekend time to rehabbing for the first time in 40 years.

Rotary members spent their Saturday morning painting the cabin's windows, walls and bathroom for the scouts. In addition to painting, the club will replace the cabin's electrical wiring, update its heating system, install new screens and replace the kitchen cabinets. 

"We felt it was a good community service project that'd allow residents to use it (cabin) for different events,"said Cheryl Cross, community service director for the Wheaton Rotary.

Rotary member Paul Mademann said Saturday that he hopes the scouts will get "many years of service" out of their new cabin. The cabin, located at the north end of Northside Park, has not been refurbished since the 1970s. 

Members have donated their services to the project, including the re-wiring, done by member, Roger Tully from Tully Electric and the heating, done by Chuck Mattingly from Borter Heating. Cross, who said the group is still looking for recycled kitchen cabinets to use in the cabin, said they hope to be finished with the project by late June or early July. 

Rotary members are "always looking for projects," Mademann said, joking that they are more into "hands on" projects than writing checks.