When Ben Smithgall was designing a garden cart for his Eagle Scout project, he was sent back to the drawing board by an honest mother.

	Pam Panchak, Post-Gazette Scout Ben Smithgall talks with residents of St. Barnabas Nursing Home about the gardening cart he built. Click photo for larger image. How Ben Smithgall's plan for a garden cart grew into much more, in downloadable mp3 audio format.

That kind of candor can come only from a loving mom. So after your son spends countless hours drawing plans for a project, what's it like telling him something he really doesn't want to hear?

"It was very easy," Amy Smithgall, of Pine, said with a smile, "because he listens and he wanted this to be something that would be used and look nice and it was important to consider the aesthetics."

Ben, 16, admits pouting for a short time, but he knew his mother was right.

The original plan for the cart was an industrial, functional piece that would have worked fine for the people at St. Barnabas Nursing Home in Richland, but it wouldn't have fit the decor of the facility.

"It was going to be a piece of equipment, not a piece of furniture," he said.

He had learned from his mother about people in the nursing home who suffered from dementia, and he researched the therapeutic properties of working with plants, discovering that a cart that allowed people to garden indoors would be a welcome addition to the nursing home.

"Gardening is a very beneficial activity to residents," he said. "When you garden, you're thinking and you're working. It allows them to reconnect with fond memories."

When Ben unveiled his creation Monday at St. Barnabas, administrator Shelly Jenkins was elated.

"I was completely impressed. It was so much more than I thought it was going to be. It was very homey. It looks like you can just put it right into the room for the residents to use," she said.

"Residents with dementia ... are just seeking something stimulating that doesn't stress them. They probably enjoyed gardening for many years and now they can do it again indoors. They can sit in their wheelchair and enjoy something they may have enjoyed all their lives."

The cart is four feet square and about seven feet high. The work area has plastic bins set into the table, and four intricately turned spindles hold fluorescent lights above the table top. The lights not only illuminate the work area but also can be used to keep plants growing with vigor.

The project was a collaborative effort that included family friends who had experience with woodworking and design. Other Scouts helped Ben build the cart, which took more than 100 hours. He has just a few more requirements to complete to earn his Eagle Scout award.

Ben's mother stood in the back of the nursing home chapel Monday as reporters and photographers surrounded her son. She watched as some of the residents pulled their wheelchairs up to the gardening cart.

"I think it's very important for young people to interact with older people," she said. "I think it's just so important to maintain contact."

Ben hopes his creation benefits the nursing home residents.

"If it's used and it's enjoyed and the people who work here are able to use this for therapeutic reasons, I think that would just be amazing to see that."

After the festivities, Ben and his parents sat quietly, talking about the project. Ben's father, Tom, listened to his wife describe the process of creating the cart.

Then he looked at his son and said, "We're very proud of you."