text: What do Hollywood film director Michael Moore and Mayor Michael Bloomberg have in common with Newtown resident Kenny Thorburn? They share an outstanding achievement as members of an elite group of Boy Scouts who rose to the highest rank of scouting, an Eagle Scout. Becoming an Eagle Scout is an accomplishment that only one fifth of the boys who become Scouts are able to attain. The historic Old Presbyterian Church on Sycamore Street was the focus of Kenny’s project, and the town is all the richer for his efforts.
  “Scouting is an important part of my family life,” Kenny explained. “My father Ronald and his brother Russell were active Boy Scouts, and they encouraged participation in scouting for both me and my brother Grant, who also became an Eagle Scout two years before I did.”
  The road toward becoming an Eagle Scout is a rigorous one. A young man must complete 21 or more merit badges and be a demonstrated leader in his troop. In Kenny’s case, the troop is Troop 99, which meets at the American Legion Hall Morell Smith Post 440 in Newtown. The scout also has to have a record of service to members of his community.
  The eagle itself is a symbol of courage and valor. Historically, dating back to the ancient Egyptians and continuing across the ages to our own Native American culture, the eagle is considered to be a messenger of power and valor, a leader and defender of freedom. A small silver eagle is suspended from the Eagle badge, a tricolor of red representing courage, white -honor, and blue, loyalty.
  The Thorburn family are active members of the Presbyterian Church in Newtown. When Grant, Kenny’s older brother, was considering options for his own Eagle Scout project, his attention was directed to the cemetery of the Old Historic Presbyterian Church located on Sycamore Street.
  As Kenny explained, church services are held from Memorial Day to Labor Day at the Old Presbyterian Church, and the position of this significant building in Newtown history became important to both brothers. “The church was built in 1769 in the Greek Revival style, designed by a master architect named Mathias Hutchison whose work remains visible on many historic buildings in Bucks County,” said Kenny. “The church played a role in the important battle between George Washington and the Hessians on that fateful Christmas morning.”
  According to historians, Washington brought many of the wounded Hessians along with the other captured soldiers to the church, since it was one of the largest holding areas in Bucks County. The Hessians remained in the church until such time when they could be transported to Philadelphia, along with the other prisoners of war.
  The adjoining cemetery is a road map to American History. There are gravestones of veterans dating back to the French and Indian Wars, the War of 1812, the Revolutionary War, and the Civil War. Eight British flags mark the graves of men who fought in the French and Indian Wars, and 28 flags identify men who fought in the American Revolution. This cemetery is the only one in Newtown containing graves of Revolutionary War soldiers.
  “Grant was my inspiration,” admitted Kenny. “In 2015 he took on for his Eagle Scout project, the task of resetting some of the headstones which had shifted or moved due to the ravages of time. His goal was to reset 25 but he ended up resetting 50. I was part of his work crew and became very interested in the cemetery.”
  What piqued Kenny’s interest was the fact that there was no permanent installation of a directory, identifying where the individual graves would be located. “I had two distinct motivations guiding me,” Kenny said. “I wanted a project that would have a benefit to anyone visiting the Cemetery, and secondly, I wanted to make a permanent contribution to my church.
  Looking forward, I wanted the generations who would follow me in my own family to be proud of this legacy.”
  The project would have a headstone directory mounted on a stone base that would outline burial plots by name and location. For research purposes, the names of those persons who are interred would have to be spelled correctly on the final grid; that process alone required checking and double checking since there were so many variations on spelling of names. Aside from the tedious task of proofreading the names, Kenny had to insure that the names of the interred were in the correct locations on the grid. That task alone required hours of attention.
  Kenny had to present his project to church officials for their approval. Karen Dorward is the chairperson for the Cemetery Restoration Committee, and knew Kenny and his family for years. “When Kenny approached our committee, we could tell that he knew exactly what he was doing, despite the ambitious scope of the project,” she said. “By installing a permanent installation for the directory, Kenny was eliminating the old and inadequate method of obtaining information about grave locations.”
  Another church official who gave guidance to Kenny was Walt Jameson, head of the Historic Church Committee. “Walt talked with me about my budget, and gave me valuable suggestions,” said Kenny. “He mentored me in many ways. I decided to raise funds by holding a car wash, collecting donations from church attendees after service, and creating a GoFundMe site.” Members of the Council Rock swim team, of which Kenny was a member, fellow Troop 99 scouts and other friends joined in Kenny’s successful fund raising efforts.
  Walt also introduced Kenny to Roger Cook, a retired graphic designer who lives in Washington Crossing. “Before I met Roger, I knew nothing about graphic design,” admitted Kenny. “He made suggestions about the grid I was designing, pointed out possible problems that I was unaware of. Roger explained the challenges, but left finding the solutions up to me. My time with Roger was like taking an accelerated class in graphic design.”
  Kenny basically had created two projects; one was the map grid that would identify the locations of the graves in an orderly fashion and secondly, the building of a pedestal upon which the map grid would be installed. “My father and I approached Delaware Valley Quarries and explained our project to them,” said Kenny. “They were very supportive and gave us a fair price on the stones.”
  As for experience in masonry, neither Kenny nor his father had any. “My dad noticed a couple of masons who were on a lunch break from their work in Newtown Borough. He walked over to them, explained what our project was and asked them for suggestions,” said Kenny. “The masons were extremely cooperative and showed us how to mix mortar. They looked at our design, made some suggestions for change based on their expertise. They even gave us telephone numbers so that we could call for assistance if needed.”
  Still, there were minor setbacks that could have discouraged a less dedicated young man. Ronald, Kenny’s dad, remembers one evening at 11 pm when the two of them were working by lamplight at the cemetery. “We mixed a batch of mortar incorrectly which then caused the stones to topple. I looked over at Kenny who was exhausted and wondered what his reaction was going to be,” Ronald said. “Kenny was determined to do the job correctly and despite the late hour, began mixing another batch of mortar. I would have been okay if he had said that he was too tired to begin another batch, but I was proud that he made the decision to remix the mortar then and there.”
  Another time was that Kenny used aluminum flashing around the base. A friend pointed out that aluminum flashing would work, but it would last only for a while. Belgian blocks would be a better, more lasting alternative. “I decided to take my friend’s suggestion even though it added another dimension to the project,” Kenny said.
  Kenny quickly discovered another aspect of masonry that he needed to learn. Since all forms of stone absorb moisture in cold or wet weather, literally they have to be able to breathe in order to dry out. The joints between the stones have to be correctly filled with mortar; the process is called pointing, and is an art form by itself. His brother Grant and fellow swim team member Matt Haleman helped with the heavy lifting, but it was Matt’s father Ed who joined the effort and gave the young men important instruction on pointing.
  “Matt’s dad showed us what we were doing that was wrong, and told us how to use the right tools to do the job so that the stones would be joined accurately,” Kenny said. “Ed showed us what to do, then supervised our work, but we had to do the work to his satisfaction. We gained invaluable experience in construction and masonry.”
  Kenny’s Eagle Scout project touched many lives, aside from his own. He devoted more than 442 hours of time to the project alone, while at the same time maintaining academic excellence in Council Rock North’s Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society, participating in the CR’s swim team and serving as captain of the team in his senior year, and being an active member of his church’s youth groups. He is currently enrolled in the Honors Program at the University of Delaware, majoring in Mechanical Engineering.
  For Ronald, his father, the time spent with both his sons Grant and Kenny, made him appreciate anew his own scouting days with his dad. “My father was not a scout himself, but he gave freely of his own time to Russell and me,” Ronald said. “We enjoyed outdoor activities together and between father and son, we developed a strong and lasting relationship. I feel privileged to have experienced the challenges of Scouting and all that it represents with both Grant and Kenny.”
  For Walt Jameson and Karen Dorward, Kenny’s project is far reaching for the historical benefits it brings to the Old Presbyterian Church and the town of Newtown. “Visitors are welcome to come to the cemetery, to research their own family backgrounds, and to walk along the pathway,” said Karen. “He has helped make history accessible.”
  As for Kenny, he admits to discovering many life’s lessons as a result of his Eagle Scout project. “Aside from learning how complex masonry is, I feel a confidence about construction that I never had before. I also learned how to communicate with adults, to listen carefully to suggestions, to seek out counsel when I realized that I didn’t have the knowledge or skills to complete the next task. Most importantly, I feel pride in accomplishing a project that has lasting significance for my family and my church.”
  The Old Presbyterian Church is located at 76 North Sycamore Street and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since July 1987.