Longtime Preston Boy Scout Troop 75 members Dylan McGuire and Cory Converse had an eventful spring 2020 planned, both having just completed hundreds of hours of work on separate Eagle Scout projects and preparing to defend their projects to earn the prestigious Eagle Scout title.

But COVID-19 waylaid those plans, along with McGuire’s varsity spring track & field season at Norwich Free Academy and an on-field graduation June 11 at NFA.

Phillip Ludlow, Eagle coach for Troop 75, said both McGuire and Converse are awaiting meetings of the local Scout Master Conference, the Mohegan District for southeastern Connecticut, the Connecticut Rivers Council and ultimately, an Eagles Board of Review to review and approve their Eagle Scout status.

McGuire had hoped to see his Eagle Scout project in action in April, with a grand opening and dedication of the new $10,000 asphalt milling running track that now surrounds the soccer field at the Preston Plains Middle School. The dedication too was canceled, and while students and teachers got a chance to walk and run on the track a bit in March, it remains closed along with all school grounds during the COVID-19 closure, Superintendent Roy Seitsinger said.

McGuire didn’t run track and field while a student at PPMS, but he played basketball, baseball and soccer there. He said he wasn’t very skilled in those sports and picked up track and field and cross country as a sophomore at NFA, earning All-Eastern Connecticut Conference honors. He will attend Southern Connecticut State University in the fall on an academic scholarship and plans to run track and cross country in college.

McGuire started planning the middle school track project in December 2018. He gave a presentation to the Board of Education, which approved the project and contributed $2,500 from the facilities and grounds budget. McGuire worked with surveyor Rob Quint to outline the perimeter and design the soccer field and with Bill Coon, family friend and owner of Coon & Son Construction, to excavate and build the track.

McGuire paid Coon & Son $4,000, and the company contributed the remaining $6,000 in labor and materials cost to create a one-fifth-mile oval track with a straight spur to allow for 100-yard dash races.

Seitsinger said he was impressed by McGuire’s entire project, from the professional design to his leadership in coordinating the work. Seitsinger said the plan is to allow the track to “settle” for a time and then to see if it can become approved as a host site for middle school competitive meets. He said he came to the school one Sunday and saw a single person working on the track. It was McGuire, who wasn’t satisfied with one small section and wanted to fix it himself.

“He followed through on every detail,” Seitsinger said, “coordinating the project, coordinating the contractors. He’s laid such a great groundwork for future improvements to the field.”

McGuire had $500 remaining after the track was completed, so he donated that to the Preston school food services program for its grab-and-go lunches distributed during the COVID-19 school shutdown.

Converse, 16, a junior at Norwich Regional Technical High School, had hoped to deliver in person some of the 57 backpacks full of personal hygiene and safety items to homeless veterans across the state. But since 47 backpacks were destined for the COVID-19 hotspot of Fairfield County this spring, the bags instead were brought to the Westbrook shopping outlet mall for pickup by members of Freedom Isn’t Free Foundation. The remaining 10 backpacks were brought to the Homeless Hospitality Center in New London.

The backpacks, planned last June and packed by Troop 75 scouts on Dec. 4, before the coronavirus emergency hit, contained much-needed personal items, such as gloves, hats, socks, toilet paper, wet wipes, razors, shaving cream, nail clippers, tissues, deodorant, toothbrushes and toothpaste. He added hand sanitizer to the mix.

“On behalf of The Freedom Isn’t Free Foundation, we say thank you to Cory Converse for is donation of over 40 backpacks for homeless veterans,” an April 18 letter from foundation CEO/COO Sabine Edgett and founder Russell Edgett said. “During this pandemic our homeless veterans have a harder time because they are at higher risk due to issues from deployments in addition to being without a home.”

Converse said he chose the project, because he wanted to do something for veterans, “since they were serving our country, I wanted to give back to them.” He put donation bins at local stores for cash and items requested. The Preston VFW Post 9452 donated $500. Converse raised a total of $2,000 to purchase the backpacks and more items to put in them.

“The respect, honor and appreciation Cory has shown to our homeless veterans distinguishes him as a young man of integrity who recognizes sacrifice and doesn’t take it for granted,” the foundation letter continued. “He stepped up when very few have to lend a hand up to our homeless veterans. His leadership will take him far and his appreciation for what matters will make him stand out in a crowd.”

c.bessette@theday.com