Bethel Scout Leads Historical Society Refurbishing Project

BETHEL, CT — The Bethel Historical Society has amassed quite a treasure trove of art, photographs and curios over the years.

What it hadn't amassed was any place to store them.

For a local Life Scout and Eagle candidate with a penchant for carpentry and a love of old buildings, it was one of those rare and completely brilliant opportunities.

Kyle Stejskal said his fascination with construction and buildings started early on, with Play-Doh.

"And ever since then I have been fascinated with architectural styles," he told Patch, "and that's why I connected with the Historical Society. I knew that I wanted to do some type of project where I could incorporate some historical architecture."

Eagle Scout projects aren't supposed to be easy, and what Kyle had in mind certainly qualified. His plan was to design and build four 7-foot lit cabinets to house the art that was spilling out of storage crates and onto the Historical Society's floor.

The toughest part of the project, according to Kyle, was keeping his hands off the hammers and being a manager, as the scouts expect. He said he leaned on his family for some help in the early stages — most notably an uncle, who is a carpenter. Kyle supervised a team of volunteers in the final construction of the cabinets this past weekend.

Planning for the cabinet project began well over a year ago, and then was waylaid by the coronavirus pandemic. But that gave him time to get his ducks in a row, fire up his AutoCAD design software, and create the blueprints he needed to present to the Bethel Historical Society's board for its approval. It was a slam dunk.

But the BHS approval process was nothing compared to that of the BSA, Kyle said. His designs, presented in Zoom meetings, needed to be blessed not only by his local troop but the statewide Boy Scout Council as well.

He described the cabinets as "pretty elaborate, and they're not just something you would find at Ikea." The Boy Scout Council passed them with flying colors.

Next on the checklist was convincing local vendors to make their contributions. Bethel-based K-Man Glass donated all the glass, which Kyle estimates would have otherwise cost around $5,000. Two local contractors, Jeff Bruno and Steve DeMarco, donated another $5,000 worth of wood. Tom Barnum of Barnum Woodworks helped make the cabinet door frames, and Tom's Paint and Ring's End Lumber kicked in some of the paint needed for the project.

The paint bit was tricky. Kyle said that pigment from a century ago was darker, due to a more primitive means of creating it, and those darker shades have become a hallmark of the period's architectural style, which he hoped to capture in his cabinets.

The green trim on the back wall of the Historical Society's Building at 40 Main Street is the only bit of original paint remaining, so Kyle made that the touchstone for his color scheme. He also chose a burgundy, which adds a contrast "that looks wonderful." All of Kyle's paint and style choices had to be approved by the Society's Board of Directors, who liked it so much that now the Life Scout is leading a team to repaint all the windows, doors, interior trim, ceiling and walls of the museum to match.

As generous as the local vendors were with their contributions, the Stejskal family is still $3,000 out-of-pocket with the project. They have established a GoFundMe campaign in the hope that donations from fans of the Historical Society will help them break even.

Kyle will be attending Marywood University in Scranton, PA, this fall, studying architecture.

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