In 1994, 14-year-old Joel Blanco decided to help clean up the Grain Elevator and Coal Sheds for his Eagle Scout project. The Lemont Village Association had recently acquired it, and Blanco’s project was one of the first steps toward renovating the historic building. It took three days and more than 25 volunteers to remove 10 tons of trash, including wood scraps, old appliances, motors, a bathtub, and even a boat.

Twenty-seven years later, Joel is an assistant professor of exercise science and sport at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. He was in town in May helping his parents move. I caught up with him and asked him to reflect on the daunting task.

How did the Granary clean-up become your Eagle Scout project?

I was not a Lemont native. I lived in State College, but I certainly knew a lot of kids who lived in Lemont. We all went to the same schools. So, I was asking around and I think a friend of my mom’s was from Lemont. She said something along the lines of “Boy, the Lemont Village Association is always looking for volunteer help.” I made some phone calls, and I met with Sue Smith who told me that they had this building, which looks a lot better today than it did back then. I think we also met with a gentlemen named Phil Hawk. We came here and looked at the building, and I was originally a bit apprehensive. They talked about a renovation, which made me nervous. Then they said, “The first thing we need to do before we can consider renovating is cleaning the place out.” I immediately felt better. I don’t have any renovating skills, but I can clean up garbage.

What was the project like?

The big doors that open on Mount Nittany Road, we opened that up and the entire thing was filled with trash. I was about six feet talk at the time, and I remember that the garbage was taller than I was. There was literally a boat in there, and the boat was filled with more garbage. So, myself and some Boy Scouts did fundraisers and we worked with the Lemont Village Association to get certain costs covered. The big cost was the dumpsters. I also went around and got various food donations (to feed the volunteers). And then the other thing I did was pound the pavement to get volunteers.

Was it difficult to get volunteers?

I was really impressed, even at 14, with the sense of community that Lemont has. I brought members of my own Boy Scout troop and some adult leaders came out, but I didn’t know how many people were going to be here. People kept showing up. We started hauling garbage out. We filled up two dumpsters. They were carted away. We filled two more and they were carted away. The little areas underneath where the coal used to be, we cleaned those out too. I believe it took three days. We had it all cleaned and swept out.

How did you feel finishing up and seeing the floor for the first time?

It was satisfying. The whole project was little bit daunting, which is how it’s designed. It’s taking on responsibility…a learning process. My biggest fear was that no one would show up. It was an enormous fear. I’ve had professional jobs involving event planning, and that fear of people not showing up is there every single time. I now teach a class about event planning. It’s always the number one fear of all my students. I had a lot of support, and the LVA was working with me at all times.

Fast forward to 2021. How does it make you feel knowing the granary still stands as a landmark of the village and a community venue for concerts, weddings, and markets?

I think that’s fantastic. I have not stayed local, so I didn’t know that before you said it. But honestly, it feels fantastic. Because a lot of people’s effort went into saving the place. I was just a small part of it. It makes me feel like I did something worthwhile. Now I’m in my 40s and that sort of thing is poignant. Today I was having lunch with a friend…he was one of the people who helped clean it out…I told him that you reached out to talk about the project. He tells me that his wife’s grandfather was born in 1922 and that her grandfather’s first job as a teenager was shoveling grain in this building.

No way. That’s unbelievable.

It’s as if there are all these different eras of history in Centre County, and you see those connections more when you get a little older.

This article was first published in the Summer 2021 Lemont Village Newsletter.