Nolan Henderson has spent much of his life inside the Valparaiso Community Library.
- Homeschooled since his family moved to the area in 2016, the 15-year-old from Shalimar said the library was where he took classes, checked out books and talked with people in the community throughout elementary school. So when it came time to pick a beneficiary for his Eagle Scout project, he said the choice was easy.
On Saturday, Henderson led a team of volunteers at the library from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to build a pollinator garden.
“The Valparaiso Library was a really big part of educating me and growing up,” Henderson said ahead of the build. “When it came time to my beneficiary for my project, the library became a no-brainer.”
Henderson’s family moved to the area when he was 6 years old. His mother, Natasha Henderson, is a former special education teacher in Texas who stepped away from the classroom to homeschool Nolan and his younger sister, Lila. He joined Cub Scout Pack 522 the same year the family moved and has since worked his way through the ranks with Troop 529B.
Henderson said the project pushed him outside his comfort zone, as he was not especially knowledgeable about plants before he began planning.
Volunteers built a retaining wall, filled it with dirt and installed four planter boxes featuring native plants chosen to support the local ecosystem. Rather than gravel, the team laid down mulch around the beds — a deliberate choice Henderson said was made to accommodate ground-nesting bee species that burrow into the material to create habitats. Stone pavers were set throughout the garden to give visitors walking paths, and interpretive signs were placed in front of each planter box to explain pollination, its environmental benefits and the animals involved in the process.
- The educational content for the signs came from the Emerald Coast Science Center in Fort Walton Beach, where Henderson previously participated in a homeschool program during middle school. The signs themselves were printed and donated by A World of Signs in Fort Walton Beach.
Henderson said he hopes the garden becomes both a learning tool and a quiet place to spend time.
“The library offers a bunch of educational programs, so hopefully this pollination garden will provide a more hands-on way for them to see if they offer any classes on gardening or any of that kind of stuff,” he said. “But also it’s just relaxing. Just sitting there, seeing the flowers, seeing the little bees and other insects flying around, even some hummingbirds occasionally.”
Nearly all of the materials for the project were donated by area businesses.
ACE Hardware in Niceville donated landscaping fabric, stone pavers, landscaping screws and other smaller supplies — more than $100 worth of materials, according to Henderson. Lowe’s in Fort Walton Beach donated the lumber and most of the rebar used to secure it. Paradise Plants and Palms in Valparaiso provided guidance on plant placement within the beds and donated the plants and signposts. Kodiak Tree Service
and Cale Pierce Landscaping donated the gravel and mulch.
- “All the materials that I’m using for my project were donated by businesses in the community,” Henderson said. “I think that’s a really just important aspect to highlight — that all of this would not be possible without these specific businesses.”
Henderson’s path to Eagle has been shaped in part by working on other scouts’ Eagle projects over the years, from installing hammock posts at a local park to assembling care packages for cancer patients. He said those experiences taught him more than the technical side of planning.
“When I was younger, I understood all the hard work and aspect that goes into it,” he said. “But as I’ve gotten older, now 15, I’ve finally started to understand more of the leadership aspects — how to get people to do things that they may not want to do, without being rude to them.”
He said he has made a point of asking older scouts for advice as his own project approached.
- “I always make sure to ask them questions such as ‘what was the hardest part?’ What did you enjoy the most? Do you have any advice on leading my own group?‘” he said.
Henderson credited his family — his parents and his sister Lila, a dancer and fellow archer — with helping him reach this point.
“They’ve been essential in me completing this project,” he said. “They didn’t do it for me, but they were just fundamental to providing the guidance that I needed.”
With the build complete, Henderson said he has only a few merit badges left before he can submit his application for an Eagle Board of Review.
“It teaches not just outdoor skills, but also how to interact with people, how to manage conflict, how to be sure of yourself, how to give good leadership,” he said of scouting. “It sets people up to be a good pillar of their community — willing to give back, willing to help others, and just overall being a good person.”
