CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – A music wall has been installed at Rotary Park made of various industrial tubes, metal pipes, and even a washboard, designed to help kids get excited about sound and rhythm, and to give everyone more fun things to do at the park.
The music wall, behind the Frank McGregor and James Holleman Pavillion, was created by Ava Heuston and Karley Sugg of Girl Scout Troop 782 to fulfill requirements for their Silver Award. Ava and Karley have been in the same troop for the last nine years, and they have pursued many projects together, but nothing quite as big as this music wall, which took them 50 hours individually to make.
Heather Sugg, the troop leader and Karley’s mom, started out as a “cookie mom” when Ava and Karley were only Daisies in kindergarten.
“Just to see how they’re growing not just as girls, but young ladies, and having to take on that responsibility and do adult things, it’s just rewarding to see them grow.”
Karley and Ava had to meet with the nearby homeowners association, county officials and Montgomery County Parks and Recreation to make this project, which they started during the pandemic. Thankfully, they had plenty of helping hands.
Karen Morrow, who was a Girl Scout herself in college, mentored these ladies through their project.
“When they hit a roadblock, it was like, ‘Let’s brainstorm some ideas and figure out what you can do,'” Morrow said. “Staying in a youth’s life, and encouraging them and helping them along means a lot.”
Hopefully, kids will get a lot out of the wall, learning more about fun ways to create music.
“You don’t need an instrument to create music; you could just use regular stuff you found at a hardware store to create rhythm and sound,” Karley told Clarksville Now.
Both Karley and Ava have a personal tie to music. Ava has played several instruments and has been to many concerts at Austin Peay State Univeristy. David Steinquest, a percussion professor at Austin Peay, was one of their mentors for this project.
“That’s where I got a lot of inspiration (for the percussion) was when we went with Dr. Steinquest,” Ava said.
Karley said the most difficult part was finding hardware that created the sounds they wanted. “With the chimes, we went through 15 different ways to attach them to the nails that allowed them to have a good sound and made sure that they stayed up.”
When children came over to play with the wall, a bright smile spread across both Karley’s and Ava’s faces, and they exchanged glances.
“We knew people were going to play with it, but it was more of a vision not necessarily a reality,” Karley said.
Their next objective is the Gold Award, which is the highest honor for Girl Scouts, only this time each will have her own project.
“We’re going for the Gold,” Karley said.