A church in Parryville now sports a banister and new meeting room because of a local Eagle Scout.

Nathan Fry, a member of Boy Scout Troop 187, Lehighton, finished his project at St. Peter’s United Church of Christ in Parryville,

A junior at Lehighton Area High School, Nathan said the first phase of the project was to install a banister leading up into the sanctuary to allow church members to go up and down the stairs safely.

He said the second phase of the project was redoing the old Sunday school room and turning it into a place for meetings and social events.

Nathan said the full project took about four months with a total of 255 hours from volunteers.

He said materials used to finish the project included banister, railings, connectors for the banisters, stain and polyurethane for the banister and railings, screws and bolts, and liquid nail for the first phase, while the second phase included paint for the ceiling and walls, spackle for any repairs in the wall, new curtains and curtain rods.

Nathan said he’s grateful to the volunteers who helped him complete his Eagle Scout project, as well as the members of the church for allowing him to do the project there.

“I’m extremely happy with the both phases,” said Nathan, 16. “The banister has helped greatly to ensure the safety of the members and new meeting room looks great.”

Nathan explained what he gained from the experience.

“This project has helped me learn a lot about leadership,” he said. “I learned how to make sure that the tasks that I was assigning that the volunteers that they were assigned to were both capable and comfortable with the tasks given to them. I also tried to ensure that the tasks were assigned evenly so that the jobs could be completed quickly and smoothly.”

Nathan, who is the son of Jerald and Kimberly Fry of Parryville, recommended that others should try their hand at Scouting.

“My thoughts of Scouting are that it is a good experience; you get to learn about a lot by doing merit badges, camping, ranking up, and participating in Order of the Arrow,” he said. “It also teaches (a) Scout how to be a good person by following the scout oath, law, and slogan.”