Boy Scout Bringing Hinsdale New Stars and Stripes

If you were in Hinsdale for the Sept. 11th remembrance and noticed the American flags around downtown were looking pretty good, you can thank Jonathan Lenchard Warren.

The 15-year-old Hinsdale resident and Boy Scout has been working hard on his Eagle Scout project to replace 200 worn and torn flags. Summer storms destroyed or severely damaged many of the flags, which the Hinsdale Chamber of Commerce stores. Boy Scouts put up and take down the flags each year, and Lenchard Warren, a Life Scout with Hinsdale Boy Scout Troop 8, said it was his troop’s turn this year to do so.

“I was at the Chamber, and I was looking for an Eagle project,” Lenchard Warren recalled. “I got to talking with Janet Anderson, who is with the Chamber of Commerce, and came up with this idea to replace all the flags and have a flag retirement ceremony, and then build a storage locker for the new flags out of wood.”

He’s already purchased and replaced all the old flags, but he’s on the hook for the cost.

“For all the wood and all the flags is about $6,000, and so far I have around $4,000,” he said.

generously agreed to sponsor one flag for every four purchased and Lenchard Warren said a number of other businesses have sponsored flags. It costs $50 to sponsor a flag and Lenchard Warren is looking for additional sponsors—businesses, corporations, community groups, individuals—anyone who wants to help. The $50 donations are tax-deductible.

In addition to the expense involved, Lenchard Warren said the project has involved a lot of work, perhaps 100 hours or more.

“I have to write up a workbook, too, which is like 40 pages,” he noted. “If I get sick or injured and can’t do the project on the days it was planned, it’s supposed to be so detailed that someone else can do it for me.”

Lenchard Warren’s scouting career began in third grade.

“Some of my friends were in [Cub Scouts], so I thought I’d check it out,” he said. “I joined and I enjoyed it, so I went on to Boy Scouts. I liked all the camping and everything else.”

Lenchard Warren said being a Boy Scout has allowed him to develop important skills.

“I’ve done different leadership roles with the troop, which has taught me how to lead and communicate with others,” he said. “Earning different merit badges has taught me how to camp and cook and things like that, so just a wide range of different things.”

Outside of scouting, Lenchard Warren said golfing is one of his favorite pastimes.

“I do that with my uncle and sometimes my dad,” he said. “I like bike riding and things like that.”

Lenchard Warren said the flag project has taught him “different time management things, like planning it out, and how to do fundraising, lessons like not to procrastinate, which goes into school, as well.”

Lenchard Warren is a sophomore at . He said he’s not sure what he wants to do beyond high school, but he is interested in political science.

For more information: Call the Hinsdale Chamber of Commerce at (630) 323-3952.

To contribute: Send a check payable to Hinsdale Boy Scout Troop 8 to the Hinsdale Chamber of Commerce, 22 E. First St., Hinsdale, IL 60521.