Eagle Scout completes a rock-solid project

On the Amherst County side of the James River Heritage Trail at the base of Fertilizer Road sit more than 20 rocks of unique shapes, sizes and millions of years in history each.

It took Draper Lee, of Lynchburg, about 400 hours to have them moved there over 10 months beginning last May.

Displaying the rocks as part of a public exhibit helped Lee, 18, achieve the rank of Eagle Scout –– the highest for the Boy Scouts of America. Companies from more than a dozen localities donated the rocks while Amherst officials agreed to let Lee use county-owned land on the trail.

“I figured I’d make something useful that looks nice to bring more attraction to this end of the bike trail because there’s not really a lot down here,” Lee said.

Lee, who is home schooled and taking classes at Central Virginia Community College, credited the origins of the display to his mother, Adelaide. He referred to her as a “rock hound.”

She helped him in the selection process for rocks after speaking with members of the Gem and Mineral Society of Lynchburg. Together with Mike Lee, his father, they hauled the rocks using the help of fellow Scouts and friends.

It was a worthwhile endeavor, she said.

“Hopefully people can look at these and see more than just a rock,” his mother said. “They’re all different. He’s got a good variety.”

Draper’s first idea to land the Eagle Scout rank was to build a playground for goats in Lynchburg’s Old City Cemetery. That plan, however, was thwarted when dogs killed the goats the night he said he received the approval to proceed.

Adelaide said she saw a similar display of rocks at Wintergreen Resort in Nelson County and thought it a worthwhile project for Draper to pursue.

They traveled to quarries such as Boxley Materials Co. in Botetourt County and the Alberene Soapstone Co. in Schuyler to collect the rocks. Draper said he was looking mainly for various colors.

“We’re pretty lucky with all the variety we have,” his mother said of the exhibit.

They numbered the rocks and built a nearby sign explaining the project, with fliers in an attached mailbox that names each rock and its origin, which Draper researched.

One rock he said that he was lucky to get was a kyanite — a metamorphic rock containing aluminum and quartz — that he picked up from a mining corporation in Buckingham County. There’s a lot of history and geology associated with the picks that makes them unique, he said.

“They’re not just rocks,” Draper said. “There’s a lot to do with them and a lot in them. They’re all made up of different minerals.”

And they’ll be around longer than many things currently along the trail, he said.

“Picnic tables and fences will come and go,” Draper said. “Those rocks aren’t going anywhere.”