He’s also a new Eagle Scout.

Balas graduated from WAHS this past spring, and will be going to Gannon University to study law. He was a wrestler and played baseball in high school. He will wrestle at Gannon.

Before he finished out this chapter of his life, though, Balas completed a project at the Hospice of Warren County residence in order to earn his Eagle rank.

“My friend did his Eagle project there,” said Balas, and he helped. During that process, he said, he met HOWC Director Lisa To. “She’s just such a great lady,” said Balas.

Photo submitted to Times Observer Lisa To, Executive Director of Hospice of Warren County (left), Owen Balas, and Owen’s father Dick Balas.

He knew that when it was time for him to come up with his own project he wanted to contribute more to that agency.

His scoutmaster helped him develop his ideas for an Eagle project and Balas reached out to To. “He began in May,” said To of the project’s development. Part of that process required him to fill out paperwork and present the plan to his scout supervisors for approval. It was around June or July that he actually began physically working at the site, which was the side of the residence.

Balas said that To “had a vision” for the area, and that they met and talked through her ideas in order to form a solid plan to make To’s vision and Balas’ ideas a reality. His father, Dick Balas, put his engineering skills to work in drawing up a plan and local architects consulted with him on the project’s design. “It’s a wet area out there,” said Balas, “so we wanted to make sure that what we put back there was going to stay.”

The weather was the most challenging aspect of the project, said Balas, but after 550 man hours total, he said the project turned out to be “so much more” than what either he or To had planned. The project included input from several sources and a handful of his friends from both scouting and his athletics programs all pitched in to get the work done.

What was most rewarding for Balas was seeing so many people who genuinely wanted to see the project succeed pitch in to make that happen. “I couldn’t have done it without any of them,” said Balas. He was also really pleased to have helped HOWC. “It’s such a great mission.”

“He and the crew assembled and worked diligently,” said To.

“The area to the back of the house is especially beautiful with the woods, foliage, and stream, having this area easily accessible now opens up another area of the house to be usable. This area can allow a little escape from what’s going on on the inside to the outside for some peace and quiet, or perhaps a family meeting,” said To.

She added that the wildlife that surrounds the residence – including deer, squirrel, and bears – provides an interesting diversion from the fact that families who use the residence are ultimately dealing with the heavy subject of death.

“The experience of being outside, sitting in sunshine, breathing in fresh air, feeling a cool breeze,” said To, “can induce a different outlook” at a dark time.