Scouts clean up 'Blind' Boone home in mid-Missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A group of Boy Scouts have worked to help clean up a home where ragtime artist J.W. "Blind" Boone once lived.

About a dozen boys on Saturday scraped, shoveled, pounded, hammered and pitched debris from the dilapidated Boone home. Boone, a world-renowned ragtime pianist, and his wife moved into the house after they were married in 1889.

Wearing work gloves, hard hats, goggles, dust masks and boots, the Scouts worked from detailed plans by 17-year-old Cyrus Tague, who came up with the idea for his Eagle Scout project. The city and Scout council had signed off on the plans.

Upstairs, boys gathered old plaster, curtains, old fixtures and wood paneling and hurled it from a second-story window into a trash bin.

Cyrus, the crew leader, said he was looking out for materials to preserve, including original bricks and wood. When the Hickman Hills High School junior saw one Scout tossing a glass globe lamp into the trash, he retrieved it, thinking it might be original.

Cyrus had read about the Boone home and the city's effort to refurbish it in the newspaper.

"I didn't really know anything about contract work or 'Blind' Boone, but I've learned a lot really quickly," he said.

He worked with the city manager's office and the protective inspection division to prepare for demolition work, and city staff marked with green spray paint the cabinets and fixtures that the boys could sledgehammer.

John Sudduth, city building regulations supervisor, stopped by periodically to check on the progress. About 3 p.m., he said he could see "a huge difference" from the start of the day.

"We're getting exterior work ready to start next week or the week after, so this worked out really, really well," he said.

Daniel Hwang, 15, completed his Eagle Scout project -- building a vegetable garden and ramps for elementary students -- with help from Cyrus and wanted to return the favor. He said Cyrus was a good leader, giving plenty of notice to Scouts about the project and organizing the work team.

"I know of other projects that haven't gone as smoothly," he said.

Cyrus' mother, Melissa Tague, said she was pleased with the project.

"My thing is, this is a historic property, and he's helping to preserve history," she said. "I love Columbia, and a lot of people are involved here. History is still here, and this is part of keeping history."

Boone was born in 1864 near Miami, Mo., the son of a Union Army bugler and a runaway slave named Rachel. Boone lost his sight when he was about 6 months old as a result of an illness deemed "brain fever" by doctors.

His family sent him to the Missouri School for the Blind in St. Louis, and he gave his first piano concert in Columbia at age 15.

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Information from: Columbia Daily Tribune, http://www.columbiatribune.com