“It’s OK, the tunnel isn’t scary anymore,” a father was overheard telling his young daughter as they walked the town’s urban FIT trail out of Golden Eagle Park.

It took more than five months for a group of Fountain Hills Cadette Girl Scouts and volunteers they had organized to transform a dark, foreboding tunnel traversing under Golden Eagle Boulevard into a whimsical delight.

At a recent Town Council meeting Mercy Taylor, Natalie Flynn and Deanna George of Cadette Troop 1059 were presented their Girl Scout Silver Awards. This is the highest award for a Cadette and the second highest for Girl Scouting.

The three girls were searching out a “Take Action Project” as part of their Silver Award tasks when they contacted Chance Butterfield, the park operations lead for Golden Eagle Park. Butterfield said he had received numerous complaints about the tunnel that is part of the FIT trail system and asked the girls if they could come up with something.

Nita Blose, Fountain Hills Girl Scout Service Team Manager and leader for Troop 1059, said the girls felt the project might take a few weekends, but they were in for a surprise.

Once they started they realized how much work they had gotten into, but once committed to the project they were going to see it through.

“We soon realized that it would take forever to complete with just our troop painting (three girls and two leaders),” Nita Blose said. “(At the beginning) we were painting once a week on the weekend.

“We enlisted help from (another Girl Scout Cadette Troop), artist friends, parents of the girls and personal friends. If they were old enough to hold a paint brush and willing to come and help, we welcomed them.”

The work began in late February. On toward May they became anxious about the onset of 100 plus degrees in the summer and started working two to three days a week once school was out.

The three girls and two leaders, plus 19 additional volunteers, spent 37 days at the site painting for a total of 231 hours and 1,133 project (individual) hours.

After spending a day cleaning out the tunnel of bugs, spider webs and dirt daubers, they spent five days applying two coats of white primer to the walls and ceiling. It took another four days just to put two coats of yellow paint on the ceiling.

The design, layout and painting of the designs and figures took another 28 days. Kelly Blose, an assistant leader and artist did the hand work on the walls, to be followed by the eager painters.

The geometric designs were carefully laid out over the concrete walls with the scouts and volunteers taking turns measuring and drawing out the designs. Kelly Blose drew out the animals and flowers that now decorate the inside.

The tunnel is 123 feet long. It took 42 gallons of paint and five gallons of clear coat to transform the walkway.

Taylor, Flynn and George learned how to lead a large project. After painting several days and getting the operational flow they were put in charge of organizing materials for each day, assigning volunteers and teaching tips and techniques for the painting they had already learned.

The project wrapped up on July 9.

“Building girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place,” is a Girl Scout credo.