- December 4, 2025
Robert "Trey" Mattingly III chose rebuilding the house-shaped stage prop for OBFD as his Eagle Scout service project. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Scouts work on the prop. Courtesy photo
Scouts help build the new prop. Courtesy photo
Robert "Trey" Mattingly III (center), his mom Krista (right) and Ormond Beach firefighters pose for a photo with the old and new props. Courtesy photo
Ormond Beach Deputy Fire Chief Nate Quartier gives Robert "Trey" Mattingly III a chief's pin. Courtesy photo
A firefighter tests out the new house prop. Courtesy photo
Robert Mattingly Jr., Robert "Trey" Mattingly III and Krista Mattingly. Courtesy photo
Robert "Trey" Mattingly III" sits in front of the new prop for the Ormond Beach Fire Department. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
The Ormond Beach Fire Department has a new stage prop for its community events, thanks to one local scout.
For his Eagle Scout service project, 16-year-old Robert "Trey" Mattingly III constructed a new house structure for the fire department, a project that took 16 months to come to fruition. Trey's mom, Krista Mattingly, reached out to OBFD when Trey began looking for service project options.
It took about four or five months to get all the paperwork done for the scouts. Cutting the materials for the prop took another couple months, and then suddenly, they received a call: OBFD was hoping to use the prop for National Night Out, which was originally set for Oct. 7, but rescheduled to Nov. 10 due to weather.
"It was the end of August, and we're like, 'Yeah we can make this work,'" Krista Mattingly said. "... So then it went quick."
Trey said he and his dad started looking at the calendar to plan out the time they needed to finish the prop. They enlisted fellow scouts to help to, and about 19 people showed up to their house one day — scouts and their parents.
"It took about four-and-a-half hours to do," Trey said. "And about an hour on the pulley system on the back."
On Saturday, Sept. 27, Trey and several of the scouts presented the prop to OBFD. The reaction from the firefighters was priceless, Krista Mattingly said.
Trey also received a chief's pin from Ormond Beach Deputy Fire Chief Nate Quartier.
"Only chiefs can get that pin," Trey said. "No one else. I'm very lucky I got it."
Was it a fun project? Trey said yes.
"I learned how to use a skill saw, first of all, which was actually kind of fun," he said. "I made a heart that my dad still has on his keychain, and I made the fire which is out [on the prop]."
Seeing the completed project and knowing he had help from fellow scouts feels good, said Trey, who has been a Scout with Troop 468, of Ormond Beach, since he was little.
The Mattinglys' advice to fellow Scouts searching for a service project? Do your research and reach out.
"We would have never found this if I wouldn't have asked," Krista Mattingly said.
Troop 468 meets at First United Methodist Church at 336 S Halifax Drive, at 7 p.m. every Tuesday.
