By JOSEPH FITZGERALD

BURRILLVILLE — Thanks to Nathan Desautels, campers at the Spring Lake Campground in Glendale will be able to sing songs and toast marshmallows around the campfire.

For his Eagle Scout project, Desautels, the son of Rick and Susan Desautels of 375 Cherry Farm Road, Harrisville, built an amphitheater at the campground complete with benches and firepit.
“My Eagle Scout Project was the greatest achievement in my life,” says Desautels, a senior at Burrillville High School who will attend his Eagle Scout Court of Honor on May 17. “Earning the highest rank in scouting brings me onto a level where only 2 percent of all Boy Scouts succeed. The thought of making Eagle inspired and kept me going throughout my journey.”
Desautels says the idea to build an amphitheater came to him after he realized that the small campground of only nine campsites had no fireplaces at all. He decided to take on the problem as his project for earning the ultimate Eagle Scout rank. What resulted is a sitting area with six benches across and two benches back surrounding a fire pit in a location that is close to the sites.
“Luckily, there was a huge grassy field close by to carry out my project,” he says. “The fire pit is located 10 feet away from an existing rock wall. It is three and a half feet in diameter with eight feet of gravel surrounding it.”
Gravel was added to avoid fire from spreading and huge rocks were placed at least twelve inches below the ground to create a solid fire pit.
The benches are made from pressure-treated lumber with durable composite decking used as seat tops. Keeping in mind the necessity for handicapped accessibility, Desautels made sure that two access points had room for wheelchairs.    
“My role in this activity was to plan everything starting with conditions of the area, the method I needed to succeed, the materials I would be using and how to pay for them as well as who my helpers would be and a time schedule for carrying out the project,” he said.
Desautels used charts and graphs from his computer for planning and bought all the materials at Home Depot with money he raised from fundraising and in financial assistance from the Burrillville Parks and Recreation Department. Because the land is state-owned, he needed to approach the state Parks and Recreation Department as well as the local Fire Department, both of which approved his plans. 
A local construction company volunteered to dig out the area with a bobcat and Desautels and some friends used posthole diggers and cement to put in the supports for the benches. 
“Initially I wanted a pathway for a speaker at the front bench, but due to the closeness of the fire, I needed to move the front benches about three feet back.”
Using a manual posthole digger was one of the harder jobs, he said, adding it took over an hour for him and one scout to dig two holes for the first bench.
Nathan’s mother says she couldn’t be prouder of her son.
“He has worked very hard on this challenging, yet rewarding path of becoming a fine young man, community volunteer and student in the top 10 percent of his class throughout his high school career,” she says. “Nathan has made us very proud and we know he will become an outstanding adult. It’s not what you have, but it’s what you do, that determines what type of person you are.”
In addition to learning leadership skills, Nathan has given over 500 hours of community service alone during his career in scouting since he began in 2002. Nathan earned the Leader of the Year award in 2005 and Most Scout Spirit Award in 2006. Along with all the hard work and dedication to scouting, he also finds time to attend other school activities and outside clubs, including the Anime Club, JV Golf, Mock Trial, Math League, Blackstone Valley Beagle Club and Robotics Team.
In 2007, the Robotics Team came in first place in Rhode Island and the team was awarded the Inspirations Award due to their helping other teams in distress. At that time Nathan and his team were automatically invited to the Georgia Dome to compete in The FIRST/ROBOTICS competition against over 150 competitors from around the world. The team came in 12th place world wide.
Desautels also works part time at Wright’s Farm Restaurant as a busboy on weekends.
As for his Eagle Scout project, Nathan says perseverance and team work made the project a success.
“What I learned from my experience as a leader on this project is that I can do anything that I set my mind to in order to support my family, friends and my community,” he says. “I have benefited more overall knowledge about leadership and how to prepare and carry out a project and I will be able to use for the rest of my life.”
He’s also looking forward to May 17 when he is honored for having achieved Scouting’s highest rank.
“Because of the level of difficulty along the path of scouting, I sometimes felt like quitting,” Desautels says. “The only motivation I had to keep me going was the thought of becoming an Eagle Scout.”