DIXFIELD – Two 16-year-old Dirigo High School juniors have found an unconventional way to keep themselves busy and stay out of trouble. They entertain neighbors at the Canton Point trailer park at the same time.

Nicholas Goddard and his friend Scott Walsh were surfing the Internet one day last year when they came across a picture of a trebuchet, a military machine used in the Middle Ages for throwing stones and other items. They thought it would be neat to build one themselves. “We started this project after Nick saw a picture of one on the Internet. We figured it can’t be that hard to build,” Walsh said.

Walsh and Goddard mowed lawns, raked leaves and collected bottles in order to purchase the materials for their project. It took a year-long commitment to finish it.

“This is a project we started last summer (2003) around June. It’s taken us many tries to get it perfected. We can now throw a gallon jug of water approximately 300 feet or more,” Goddard said.

The neighbors at and near the trailer park often gather around to watch the two boys launch a variety of items off the catapult and into a sand pit out back. The pit measures about 300 by 600 feet.

“I think it’s pretty cool. The kids put a lot of time and effort into the catapult and it also keeps us entertained when they launch it,” neighbor Mary Dakin said.

Neighbor Larry White helped the boys build the catapult. Other neighbors also contributed with materials and ideas.

Kids in the neighborhood help out when they are around. “It gets them involved also. These two boys are very good role models for others their age,” Goddard’s mother, Lisa Kaulback, said.

Kaulback said it is difficult these days to keep kids out of trouble and keep them off drugs. She’s very happy that her son and his friend discovered a project that gave them something to be committed to and that would keep them at home.

“We all joke around about this project being their anti-drug. I think that’s exactly right. I’m so proud of them for what they have accomplished,” she said.

The catapult is made mostly of pressure treated 4-by-4s and a lot of 10-inch steel bolts. The arm is a 6-by-6 piece of wood. When it is fully extended into the air it measures about 25 feet tall. The box the boys built for the counterweight contains 800 to 900 pounds of steel. They use a very sturdy cable to pull the arm down and lock it for launching.

“They are always thinking of things to invent,” Kaulback said. “I think their famous words would be Wouldn’t it be crazy if we could,'” she added.

The two boys often play tennis at the high school after Walsh’s football practice. Walsh is on the varsity team. He also plays baseball, is a junior firefighter for Canton Fire Department, commander of the Sons of the American Legion in Dixfield and member of the Civil Air Patrol. He is interested in joining the armed forces when he graduates next year.

Goddard hasn’t quite made up his mind yet about what he will do after high school. He has a wide range of interests including working with computers, welding, photography, carpentry, and engineering.

“He’s very good at building the ideas he comes up with,” Kaulback said.