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Dunn Caboose PKG Script For: NC Now
Kelly Mc: The taxpayers and leaders of Dunn, North Carolina are renovating the town's
downtown. But, downtown's landmark structure is privately owned, well-known by the locals
and reflects what literally put Dunn on the map – the railroad.
Kelly Mc: This caboose sits in downtown Dunn. For years, it hasn't been forgotten but it
certainly had been neglected. Well, here comes an Eagle scout – or he wants to be an Eagle
Scout. His name is William Fitzgerald. Well he and his dad and friend are reviving this
old downtown landmark and you can see him here getting ready to work. William, there's
so many things you can do, Man, but a caboose. Really?
William Fitzgerald: Yes, sir.
Kelly Mc: Why?
William Fitzgerald: My granddad worked for Southern Railway and this caboose was manufacturing
at the exact same time he worked. So, we think that he built this or, at least, helped.
Kelly Mc: The one-time, bright red caboose had dulled over the past fifteen years. It's
freshest paint job had been graffiti and someone thought it was a good idea to break its windows.
Boy Scouts William Fitzgerald and Ben Ellmers, with William's dad, Ted, thought a better
idea would be making the caboose look as fresh as Dunn's downtown.
Ted Fitzgerald – Well, the windows were broken out. Graffitti was sprayed on it and
the paint was faded and peeling. And so, it was something I think people tolerated and
looked at and kind of ignored, but I think once we get it fixed up and painted and we've
replaced the windows, fixed the broken windows, I think the people are going to look at it
and say, “It's a really nice thing to have downtown.”
William Fitzgerald – I talked to the owner. I got our troop involved and then we just;
me and the owner came out, looked inside, had a plan. Me and my Dad came and worked
on it. Started from there.
Kelly Mc: Work began in the dead of summer – one hundred degree days. They're great
for baking the new red paint onto the caboose metal. Not so much for William and Ben, who
bit off a big project and committed to finishing it. {12}
Ben Ellmers – There was duct tape on here so we had to get the residue from the duct
tape off, right here, and then we climbed up on the ladder and got on top and spray
painted the roof red and it's looking really good, so far, today.
Kelly Mc: William's caboose renovation will be judged by a panel that determines if his
work is worthy of naming him an Eagle Scout. His dad will determine if William's perseverance
is worth a used jeep to the sixteen year old. So far, so good.
Ted Fitzgerald – He's the one who did the leg work and got all permits and went out
and secured all the permissions from the different owners – you'd be surprised how many different
owners are involved with something like this – got permission from the city and got people
to donate money.
Kelly Mc: Blaine Everhart is a local contractor who's helped other boy scouts with local projects.
He offers money, equipment, time and sweat equity.
Kelly Mc - This looks bigger than most projects I've seen Eagle Scouts try to achieve.
Blaine Everhart – Well, it is. Like I say, I've had a couple of projects I've helped
with but this is the biggest undertaking, I think, so far that I've been involved with.
Kelly Mc: His scout master admits the caboose project could accommodate a few Boy Scouts'
public service requirement.
Whit Brewer/Scoutmaster, Troop 711 – This could encompass quite a few boys putting together
and completing Eagle projects and still probably not having everything done that needs to be
done here. So, it's a big project.
Kelly Mc: William and Ben will have the caboose bright red and shiny before high school resumes.
William then faces the Eagle Scout judges, tries to convince his parents that he kept
his word to earn his Eagle Scout and honor his grandfathers who worked on the railroad.
Blaine Everhart – It's just a nice project for the Scouts to take on and I think it's
a well worthy cause to make this a very attractive corner in the downtown, because we've done
an awful lot of work to renovate downtown streets and everything and this is just an
area that we knew we needed to address.
Kelly Mc: There's even talk that Santa Claus may leave his metal house and take children's
toy requests from the caboose.