Two visitors approached the Slatington Parks and Recreation Commission Monday night seeking further help in moving a Boy Scout monument along Scout House Road to borough property along the Slate Heritage Trail.

Former Troop 65 members Bill Carlton and Vince Morris last week visited Slatington Borough Council in hopes of getting the move approved. This week, they asked the commission if it could take up an offer council had made, after approving the move, to provide them some mechanical and financial assistance.They asked if the commission thought borough council would be willing to use its backhoe to dig the hole needed as a footer for the monument and also if council would cover the cost of the concrete needed for the footer itself. They noted that they and other volunteers would gladly provide the labor.Carlton then explained that he and Morris knew little about these types of granite monuments and had therefore recently visited David Harding of Harding Funeral Home on N. 2nd Street in Slatington.They said Harding, who has experience with cemetery monuments, checked with a friend who has the equipment needed to lift the stone and then reset it. He told them his friend said he would be willing to not only move the monument but also clean and refinish it.Harding, who Carlton and Morris later learned had been a member of Troop 65, volunteered to foot the bill."That's fantastic," said member Jon Rinker.The commission said it would present the request to council and that, if approved, they could probably begin the work in April."I'm just excited because I was in the Boy Scouts in this town, and that troop was very active for decades upon decades upon decades," said Carlton. "A lot of young people who are older now went to that troop, and it just signifies that, hey, Scouting was prevalent here in the borough."In fact, Troop 65 was one of the first troops in the eastern U.S. And though no longer active, it was also recognized back in 1986 as the oldest unit in the Minsi Trails Council for its 72 years of consecutive registration.The monument will most likely be located toward the end of Willow Avenue, where a historical marker along the Slate Heritage Trail already commemorates the former Scout house location across from Trout Creek.