Away from the athletic facilities and fishing docks, bird chirps and insect hums could be heard from a serene nook tucked along the lakeside walking trail at Hillside Park in South Abington Twp.
Some parkgoers stepped off the wooden path to take photos on the large stone labyrinth. Others exclaimed at the sight of the surrounding garden space, featuring wooden sculptures, plants and a gazebo.
“Oh gosh, it's gorgeous,” said Holly McDonnell, of Dalton, who was walking her dog along the trail. “It's a beautiful spot.”
As Faith Bennett, 21, of Newton Twp., told McDonnell, she and her sister Grace Bennett, 18, worked to develop the area over the past several years as part of their Girl Scout Gold Award projects.
The Gold Award is the highest and most prestigious achievement in Girl Scouts, earned by only about 3,000 Girl Scouts annually. It requires completing an extensive, 80-hour minimum community project, which for Faith, was the labyrinth she completed in 2023.
Grace expanded upon the project, adding a memorial pathway as part of her Silver Award project, and most recently, a pollinator garden, information library, gazebo and benches for her Gold Award. Her final project report was approved last week, officially deeming her a Gold Award Girl Scout.
“I am beyond proud of both of my girls,” said their mother and Girl Scout volunteer, Denise Bennett.
Faith’s labyrinth
Faith started working on the labyrinth in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I wanted to create an outdoor meditational outlet for the community that they could go to as a holistic way to help ease their mind through the isolation that came from COVID,” she said.
Faith and Grace thought Hillside Park would be the perfect place, as they have frequented the park since early childhood to fish, play and watch sports and walk their dogs. They felt the park was in need of a quiet, relaxing space to view the lake and outdoor scenery, away from the hustle and bustle of the other areas.
After selecting the location, Faith obtained approval from the Abington Area Joint Recreation Board and began fundraising and seeking guidance from the community. Once she raised enough money, excavation was underway for months. The labyrinth kit installation and finishing touches took an additional year.
“It was definitely a big undertaking and a big endeavor for sure,” she said.
Faith said community assistance was crucial to complete the project and thanked project contributors and her parents for their time and support.
The project was completed in 2023, which was when Faith received her Gold Award at the award ceremony hosted at Bucknell University.
“Ever since then, the community has shown a lot of support for the project, and they've been utilizing it,” she said. “I often see people either walking the labyrinth for themselves or just sitting on a bench, taking in the surrounding area, watching over the lake.”
“It's just really great and fulfilling to see how much of an impact it's made.”
Grace's memorial pathway and garden grandeur
Grace also earned a Girl Scout Highest Award in 2023. She completed her Silver Award project, a walkway with memorial pavers throughout. The path starts beside the labyrinth.
“As my sister said, this was done during the times of COVID, and people were experiencing a lot of loss within the community with loved ones,” Grace said. “I wanted to create an area where people could get a paver donated in memory of their loved ones.”
Community members will soon be able to request stones by filling out papers located on a tree at the site.
For her Gold Award project, which she started in 2024, Grace added an environmental sustainability garden alongside the pathway. It includes plants such as Shasta daisy, black-eyed Susan, goldenrod, thistle and more, while making use of the natural environment. The purpose is to create a safe space for animal pollinators, like bees, butterflies and hummingbirds, away from pesticides.
“I created this garden mainly because pollinators in our area are severely at risk,” Grace said. “These pollinators have a big impact on things like our food supply, like nuts and berries and vegetables.”
About 35% of the world’s food crops depend on animal pollinators to reproduce, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“Having a safe green area for them to just truly do what they have to do to keep our environment going and do what they need to do for our benefit, I think is really special,” she said.
The garden is accompanied by an information library with donated books on pollinators to educate the community on their importance.
Grace said her sister helped inspire her project. She wanted to add to the relaxing benefits of the labyrinth.
"I knew that I definitely wanted to continue that vibe for my space, but I also wanted to have an impact on our environment and the issues that our world was facing, like climate change,” Grace said. “I figured the best way to incorporate both of those things was by making a relaxation garden for sustainability.”
Her project builds upon the calm vibe to allow for further mindfulness, by creating a space to slow down and appreciate the small things.
"Sometimes the small things could be the best things, such as the pollinators over here, like bees," Grace said. "They could be so small, but you don't realize the huge impact that they have on our environment.”
Her project also features a gazebo, in memory of their grandfathers who were Korean War veterans, and two Trex Company benches made from 2,000 pounds of plastic Grace collected from individual donors, organizations and supermarkets.
One bench is dedicated in memory of her classmate Autumn Leah Beemer, 18, of Dalton, who died this year after injuries sustained in a car accident.
Grace thanked several community members who helped her with her project. She said donations, from books to wood carvings, as well as time and assistance, were immediate and are continuous.
While working on the project in the park, she said people stop and ask how they can help. Grace is accepting donations for items still needed for the project.
“We're getting so much positive feedback from the community, and they just can't wait to enjoy this whole area once it's complete,” she said.
The project just needs some finishing touches, like signage and additional landscaping.
Grace will officially receive her Gold Award pin next summer at the award ceremony at Bucknell University.
“It took a long time, took years, but we got here, and I couldn't be more proud,” Denise Bennett said.
What's next
The community space nears completion, but the Bennett sisters are still involved with Girl Scouts, an organization they’ve been a part of since kindergarten, as Camp Archbald volunteers.
“Camp Archbald is just such a great place, such a great camp that we really love and value so much,” Faith said. “It's just like a great way to stay involved with the scouts.”
Faith is going into her senior year at American University in Washington, D.C., studying international studies and legal studies, with plans to attend law school. She said pursuing the law path will help her continue to support the community.
Grace is a freshman psychology student, on the pre-law track, at Juniata College in Huntingdon County. She’s also on the women’s golf team and noted she enjoys running to relax and practice mindfulness.
Denise Bennett, who will be an empty nester this fall, said she’ll visit the community space in Hillside Park when she misses her daughters.
“This is where I’ll retire,” she joked. “This is our peaceful area.”
