Girl Scout Volunteers Time to Paint Fire Hydrants

Have you noticed that street corners in the borough are looking a little brighter lately? That's thanks to 11-year-old Girl Scout Shannon Williams, who's helping give Hellertown's fire hydrants a facelift.

Since early June, Shannon has been working towards her Bronze Award, which is the third highest honor in Girl Scouts. To earn the Bronze Award she is required to make her community a better place by donating 20 hours of time to a service project.

“When I sit in the car and look out the window, I would look at the fire hydrants,” Shannon said.

“I decided to paint the fire hydrants because I wanted to help the firehouse, ," she explained. "I wanted to help them because I know they do so much for us.”

Shannon admits that she didn’t know how to help the firehouse at first. She initially thought about setting up a donation box, but that wouldn’t have fulfilled her 20-hour requirement.

“I looked at the fire hydrants and thought that it would be a good idea to help them because they’re all rusty. Some of them, you can’t even tell what color they are,” she said.

Due to the extensive amount of rust on some of the hydrants, Shannon, who paints with her dad, Richard, had to contact the to get the right colors for each hydrant. Although the bodies of all Hellertown hydrants are yellow, their caps are color coded depending on the size of the hose they accept. Red, green and orange caps can be seen on hydrants throughout Hellertown.

“Originally, the green was darker but my dad and I like this bright green better,” Shannon laughed.

It takes Shannon about an hour to an hour-and-a-half to complete a fire hydrant, depending on how much rust has to be scraped off. Since the yellow is a lighter color, she has to apply two coats of paint.

“I don’t do it all at once. If it’s raining, then I don’t paint it. I’ll usually just scrape the rust,” she explained.

The rain has been quite an obstacle for Shannon. She admits she fell behind her fellow troop members from Troop #8816 early on, but worked really fast so she could complete her 20 hours in the given timeframe. Although she recently met all of the requirements for the Bronze Award, Shannon is continuing her project in order to finish all of the hydrants she planned on painting.

The next award in Girl Scouts is the Silver Award, which requires 50 hours of community service. She plans on sticking with the same idea to achieve the award.

“I might make this into a class where I can teach people and we can do it throughout the town or state,” she explained.

Shannon’s mom, Melinda, said she is very proud of her daughter’s determination.

“She really is a go-getter,” she said of Shannon. “She’ll take on a project and she’s not afraid to work hard or extend her hours to complete it. She’s going to keep going until her own goals are reached and I’m very proud of her for not stopping until they’re completed."

Shannon hopes the community takes notice of her hard work. She chose to paint fire hydrants on popular corners so people can see them. Her top goal, however, is to help the firefighters be more efficient.

“I hope to help the firefighters,” she said. “I hope they realize what color it is. If they put the wrong hose on, the water could splatter everywhere. It would waste time if there were a fire."

Her project, she added, "makes the community look clean and safe.”