He was inspired to choose the Monument as his project because he recently became a Civil War re-enactor after meeting the Sons of the Union Veterans at the Monroe Civil War Days. Later, at the Great Miami River Days festival, he joined the Confederate States Marine Corps Co. B Ohio River Detachment as a private.
“I love history,” he said. “It’s my favorite subject and I want to be a history teacher.”
His Scoutmaster, Rusty Teague, is also a Civil War historian and took the troop on a camping trip to Gettysburg
“This young man is probably the most patriotic men of his age I’ve ever met,” Teague said. “He is very concerned about veterans.”
The project included sanding and varnishing the Monument’s front doors and polishing the brass, transplanting numerous shrubs, bushes and other plants, and planting six arbor trees and 20 shrubs, along with a lot of weeding and placement of mulch.
Tidmore raised the money to complete the project, even though his original estimate of $600 turned into more than $1,500. His major donor was Barrett Construction.
“People were glad to donate once they found out what we were going to do,” Tidmore said.
“I wanted to get the attention of the city to recognize the Monument and give it as much attention as I can,” Tidmore said. “It also needs structural repair and has a lot of roof damage.”
The project also helped him “become more of a man,” Tidmore said, “and face my fears.”
“I’ve learned more social and leadership skills that I will need later in my life,” he said.
Tidmore said he felt especially grateful for Teague’s support, who came to every clean-up session even though he has been battling a serious illness.
Teague said that he has pledged the support of Troop 904 to keep up with the effort, to come out every spring for weeding and trimming.
“This is the second Eagle Scout for this troop,” Teague said, “and the second Eagle Scout project that focused on helping veterans. Rich Dininger conducted a similar project to clean up the replica of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Butler County Memorial Park.
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