CRANBERRY TWP — Brody Schmitt, 15, of Cranberry Township is not one to rest on his laurels.

His 21 merit badges earned in his 10-year career in scouting are proof of that.

But visitors to Cranberry Township Community Park will be able to rest on one of the 10 park benches he recently repaired as part of his requirement to earn Eagle Scout rank.

Brody, a sophomore at Seneca Valley High School, completed the project in three days between Oct. 30 and Nov. 6 with the aid of adult volunteers and fellow members of Boy Scout Troop 403.

Brody, the son of Caroline and Jim Schmitt, said most Scouts attain scouting's seventh and final rank of Eagle Scout when they are 16 or 17 years old. He was just in a position to try to earn it early.

It's a good thing too, said Caroline Schmitt.

“He's focused. We wanted to get this achieved before he starts driving and life gets complicated,” she said.

“For the Eagle Scout project, you have to go to a local organization or nonprofit and talk with them about what needs done,” Brody said. “You have to organize and budget and get volunteers and buy the materials through fundraising.”

Brody decided on repairing and repainting the 10 benches in Cranberry Park.

“I felt this would benefit the most amount of people in my community,” he said.

He spoke with Drew Federicks, Cranberry Township manager of grounds maintenance, and other township officials to get their approval before beginning the project.

He began by canvassing home improvement businesses for building materials.

“I got a lot of 'nos' from people,” he admitted.

But he eventually rounded up the materials as well as money for the project.”

He also needed help, so Brody enlisted six adult volunteers and eight members of Troop 403.

The crew spent three five-hour work days repairing the benches.

“We removed the old wood and stripped the paint from the uprights,” he said. “We added the new hardware and the new wood and fresh paint.”

He estimated the project cost to be nearly $1,000 in materials and food for his assistants. He spend nearly 146 hours on the bench work between planning and the actual work.

“I like to work with my hands and use tools,” he said.

His work will go before an Eagle Board of Review through the Moraine Trails Council.

If approved, Brody will receive his Eagle Scout rank at a Court of Honor ceremony sometime before the end of the year.

Brody said he plans to stick with scouting even after he's attained his Eagle rank.

He's set his sights on earning entrance into the Order of the Arrow, a sort of honor society for Boy Scouts.

And he plans to stick around long enough to show scouting's ropes and knots to his little brother, Callen, 10, who's moving from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts.

Caroline Schmitt said of Brody's scouting career, “It's made him more independent and confident. It's given him a lot of skills that make him very prepared for life.”

Brody said, “It just gives you the opportunity to do a lot of things like when we did white water rafting this summer.”