By Bill Donovan WickedLocal.com
It’s a bright Saturday morning, with the autumn sun shimmering through the bristling leaves at Camp Denison. Georgetown resident Bob Morehouse swiftly scales what will eventually be a roof as the ladder supporting him leans crookedly to the side. His daughter, Ellen Morehouse-Langsner, quickly drops in below to hold it in place.
As the clattering of hammers and circular saws fill the air, construction of a memorial shelter to a cabin for their friend Carol Flyzik is well under way. “Carol was a very wonderful member of our Girl Scout troop,” explains Morehouse-Langnser, now a principal of a New Hampshire school. “We thought it would be a great idea to create a shelter in her memory.”
Flyzik died during the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center; her hijacked plane was the first to crash, hitting the north tower that morning. She was on a business trip to demonstrate medical computer equipment to hospitals and facilities in Los Angeles.
Like lifelong friend Ellen, Flyzik served in Girl Scouts Troop 238 and earned First Class status during her high school years. Her fellow scouts remember her keen sense of humor and audacity.
“She had a great spirit and [was] a nice addition to the troop. We did a lot of mountain climbing and she always showed interest in activities like that,” says Karen Mutch Jones, another troop member, as she mixes concrete with a shovel.
Peggy Ivanic Chernaik of Troop 238 points to the cement and asks Mutch Jones, “Do you have a change of shoes? You’re going to be cemented to the ground.”
The four women camped out a few years back and decided to undertake the funding and building of a Carol Flyzik Memorial Building.
“We were a hard-working crew that got a lot done during our time as scouts,” says Carol Pierce. “We used money we raised before we all headed off to college to fund this shelter. My mother Carol was troop leader and she approved.”
The former scouts donated a total of $1,384 to make it all happen. They left Rodger and Gwen Mercaldi in charge of the funds.
With guidance and aid from Bob Morehouse, they are connecting the shelter to a preexisting cabin that once served as a mess hall. They roped in their husbands and friends last weekend to assist with the 48-hour work zone.
Ellen’s brother Bob, a former classmate of Flyzik’s, was one of those working there this past weekend. They were optimistic on Saturday of finishing the roof by the end of the weekend. All of the wood being used was milled right at Camp Denison.
“We’d like to have running water set up and a screened in area for families to keep the mosquitoes away,” says Morehouse-Langnser. “A bench around the deck will make it possible for some card playing.”
Bob Morehouse, chairman of the Camp Denison Committee, noted that there is also a memorial plaque dedicated to Flyzik at Hale Hospital, where she worked as an emergency room nurse. “Carol was a very happy person,” he says.
“What a great group, giving up their Saturday to work on this,” says Morehouse-Langnser. “We wouldn’t have been able to get it off the ground without all their help. I hope this becomes an annual event where we all get together like today.”
