Students create memorial bench

Students in Mr. Doug Horne’s Tech. Ed. class, have recently completed a special project, a memorial bench, to honor a MAHS alum – Wade Beal. Beal passed away in 2021 after a long illness. The bench was completed through a partnership with the Meyersdale Parks and Recreation Committee.

Doug Horne, MAHS Tech Education teacher, said the project was initiated by Karen Gnagey, Meyersdale Borough Council and Parks and Rec member.

Horne said Gnagey asked if he had had any students willing and able to refurbish a bench to be installed at the local playground. He immediately agreed and presented the idea to his students. Landon Ludy and Caden Snyder volunteered and spent two weeks tearing apart an old bench and rebuilding it with new materials and hardware.

“They tore the old bench apart and started from scratch. The project took about two weeks from start to finish. The young men used our new CNC router, to complete lettering on the back of the bench and reassembled it with new hardware,” Horne explained.

Gnagey said Wade’s widow stopped to see her in the fall and asked about having a bench made in her husband’s memory. Beal was a dedicated community member and sang each year at the Borough’s Independence Day celebration.

Coincidentally, Gnagey had noticed a bench in disrepair at the former Borough building.

“We coordinated with Mr. Horne to have it rebuilt by the students as a community service project. A member of the community donated the materials used to rebuild it,” Gnagey explained. “The bench will be placed at the playground and dedicated at this year’s Independence Day celebration.”

Horne said his students were honored to be able to build something in memory of a MAHS alum and proud to serve their community in this manner.

“These kinds of projects are important to my students so they have ownership and pride in their community,” Horne added.