According to Priscilla Ryder, conservation officer for the city of Marlborough Conservation Commission, this award is given to acknowledge “truly outstanding efforts that have contributed significantly to conservation and environmental protection.”
Earning this award takes a tremendous amount of time and dedication.? Scouts must earn the conservation-related merit badges, then plan, lead and carry out at least four significant conservation projects, which are on par with the Eagle Project requirements. The selected conservation projects also include research, education and must make a difference.
?Earning a Hornaday award is rare. Only 1,200 Bronze and Silver Hornaday medals have been awarded since 1917.? By contrast, 51,473 Scouts earned the rank of Eagle in 2011 alone.? Steadman is the 96th person to ever be awarded the Silver medal, the rare and prestigious award for exceptional contributions to conservation.
?Steadman's projects included:
- Marking storm drains, and educating residents about water pollution with his educational game and display.
- He initiated and led the project of creating an interpretive trail at the Mt. Ward Conservation Area. The project included establishing a trailhead, building a kiosk, cleaning the trail, creating interpretive trail brochures, and promoting a trail walk with Green Marlborough.
- He created and led the “Bright Challenge” project and education for the 1LT Charles W. Whitcomb Middle School, in which he designed the energy conservation education program and assemblies informing 1500 students about energy conservation.
- He organized and led the project to remove the bittersweet invasive vine from an area of Ghiloni Park.
- He also oversaw the project of building boardwalks totaling over 80 feet at The Grove in Marlborough to improve the trail and help correct soil erosion problems.
“On behalf of the Conservation Commission, I can's thank Aidan enough for all his contributions to our City's Conservation and Park land projects.? He has not only put in over a 1000 hours of his own time, but has organized his fellow scouts, friends and family to contribute over 760 hours of volunteer service on these five projects, that is an impressive amount of time,” said Ryder. “He has demonstrated what community service really is and has given back to his community ten-fold. The Boy Scouts of this community are the workforce for the Conservation Commission; they build our trails, kiosks, bridges, and boardwalks.? They fix fences, pull invasive weeds and add storm drain markers to educate citizens about protecting our water resources.? We are indebted to all scouts, and today we honor Aidan Steadman for going way above and beyond what any scout has accomplished in Marlborough. We are very proud of him and thank him for his hard work.”
Steadman, 17, is the son of Charles and Kim Steadman. He is a 2012 graduate of Marlborough High School and will be attending Brigham Young University-Idaho this fall to study Computer Science.