Scout Takes On Project To Earn Eagle

BROOKSVILLE - Most high school seniors have enough on their plate between preparing for college, extracurricular sports and the last semester of classes.

Matthew Traylor has an extra item on his to-do list: Transform the Spring Hill Cemetery.

His target sits in a bend of Fort Dade Avenue, between State Road 50 and Citrus Way. A narrow dirt road brings visitors to the graveyard and offers the first glimpse of the rundown state of the cemetery.

Abandoned in the shady oaks is a moldering sofa; broken glass gleams among the leaves.

What's found at the end of the road depends on who you ask.

Property caretaker Alyce Walker sees the roughly 330 plots as the historical black burial ground of her ancestors - including her great-grandfather, who was born in 1858.

For years, this place has been party central, too, as evidenced by the beer bottles scattered among the weeds. Walker and others have found decades-old crypt covers cracked by reckless drivers.

"I feel we have a lot of sick people in the world who really don't understand or appreciate" the cemetery's heritage, said Walker, 80.

Spring Hill Cemetery is also considered one of the most haunted places in America and its spirits have earned a slot on the Discovery Channel. Rumor has it the cemetery dates its origins to the days when it served as the gathering spot for hangings.

To 17-year-old Traylor, it represents a way to right some wrongs and a chance to earn the top ranking as an Eagle Scout through Troop 71.

His original plan was to clear up the trash and fix a trouble spot in the road that wraps around the 3-acre plot. But his workload has grown exponentially.

Now he proposes to build a 1,800-foot fence around the cemetery to keep out vandals. He also wants to plant cypress trees and flowers to beautify the property.

Donations from the community have helped the project, which now stands to cost $3,300. The county has offered a front-end loader to deliver the 78 cubic tons of crushed asphalt required to patch the road.

Deputy patrols are currently limited to the front of the cemetery because the road's soft sand can trap their cruisers.

Walker welcomes the improvements and applauds the young scout's initiative. The cemetery dates back more than 100 years, but it's still active with a burial just last week.

Visiting the cemetery brings back memories of her childhood in a Brooksville that was far more farms than shopping plazas.

Given its history, Walker would like to see it renamed the "African-American Spring Hill Cemetery."

Revamping the cemetery was Scoutmaster Chris Harbig's idea.

"It always bothered me how bad in shape that cemetery was" Harbig said Wednesday.

Traylor is one of four Eagle Scout hopefuls in the 89-year-old Troop 71, based in the First United Methodist Church of Brooksville.

A work day is scheduled for mid-March so that volunteers can pitch in with trash pickup and dig holes for the fence posts.

Securing donations and finding time for the project has cut into a busy year for Traylor, who will graduate in months from Hernando Christian Academy.

But "I've worked too hard in scouts to give up now," he said.