Dawson

EAST LIVERPOOL –Brady Dawson, 17, who is going into his senior year at East Liverpool High School and an Eagle Scout with Boy Scout Troop 2041, is a part of the schools’ academics, robotics and tennis teams, as well as being involved with the school play. In addition to his school activities, he also gives back to the community through his scout activities.

In November, he completed his Eagle Scout Project by redoing a portion of the tennis courts and the nearby benches and bikes racks at Thompson Park. He also volunteers at the Veterans Day Picnic, places flags on veterans’ graves for Memorial Day, serves as a bell ringer for the Salvation Army, ishelping other scouts complete their Eagle Projects and completes a yearly-service project at Seven Ranges Scout Camp.

This year he will be working at Seven Ranges as part of the ecology staff teaching weather and forestry to scouts who are working towards those badges.

According to Brady, he got into scouts in the first grade when he attended an assembly at school where a superhero figure told him if he completed a year of scouts, he would get a free boomerang.

“I thought I would do one year of scouts, get the boomerang and leave,” Brady said. “I did the one year and completely forgot about the boomerang.”

Brady, who is now an assistant patrol leader, said several years later on one of his last nights as a Webelos Scout he mentioned the boomerang was the reason for joining scouts, and the pack master told him they had some.

“So, I finally got my boomerang and the very first throw in my front yard was straight into a tree,” Brady said.

In addition to spending time playing video games, hiking, studying for his ACTS, most of his time goes to playing tennis.

Brady, who began playing tennis as a freshman, said he originally got into tennis to compete with his brother and it’s still a goal for him to beat his brother.

“I love the sport, and I wish I would have gotten into it sooner,” Brady said.

His love for tennis is where his inspiration came from to redo the tennis court practice area at Thompson Park.

“I wanted to redo the third court which is the worst court, but it cost a lot of money to redo a tennis court, so we decided to redo the wall which was the main part,” Brady said. “I knew I wanted to something with the tennis courts because it’s the only sport I play so I wanted to give back to them.”

He noted the problem was the planks on the wall were bad and had holes in them and left those practicing fetching their balls if they went through the holes in the rotting wood. The other parts of the project,– adding a sign to the tennis courts, repainting the nearby benches and bike racks and cleaning out the gutters around the courts –were added as the project progressed.

Brady raised $1,000 for the project.

Brady, who lives with his parents Dike and Jenny Dawson and has two brothers who attend Ohio State and Kent Universities, is considering a major in mechanical engineering at possibly Kent State University, Cleveland State University, Ohio State University or Mount Union College.

He has a strong interest in robotics and engines and said his dream job would be at Lockheed Martin.

kgarabrandt@mojonews.com