Creating a safe stairway to ‘heaven’

By Mary-Justine Lanyon

(Photos courtesy of Hunter Maxcy)

The steps going up the hillside at the Lake Arrowhead Community Presbyterian Church were in need of replacement.

The hillside beside the Lake Arrowhead Community Presbyterian Church offers a great view of Lake Arrowhead and has been a popular place for folks to watch the fireworks on July 4.

However, the steps going up to the viewing area had degraded over the years, were sloping and were dangerous to walk on.

Hunter Maxcy proposed an Eagle Scout project that would clean up the area and replace the steps.

With the help of 15 people who showed up to assist him, Hunter created a safe stairway to the top of the hillside.

“Some people raked and cleared up the area,” Hunter told members of the Mountain Sunrise Rotary Club, who supported the project.

Hunter added they cut railroad ties into the appropriate sizes for the steps and treated them so they will be less susceptible to rot. “We did that in one day,” Hunter said. The work day followed a week or two during which he set everything up.

The member of Boy Scout Troop 251, who has earned his Eagle Scout award, plans to go back to the area twice a year to keep it clean.

Hunter expressed his appreciation to the Mountain Sunrise club for donating the bulk of the funds he needed: $500 of the total $800 budget.

A high school senior, Hunter plans to attend RCC and then transfer to a four-year university to study game art, a 3D modeling program that the movie and game industry use to make things look as real as possible.