BIDDEFORD — Local scouts showed their appreciation to a Biddeford parochial school this weekend by volunteering to make the playground safer.

On Saturday morning, members of Cub Scout Pack 308 and Boy Scout Troop 330 spread mulch on the St. James School playground.

Scoutmaster Daniel Bastarache said the school allows the Cub Scouts to hold its monthly pack meetings at St. James Parish Hall.

“This is our way of saying thanks,” said Bastarache.

Bastarache and his wife, Denise, have two sons who currently attend St. James School. Denise Bastarache organized a scout project to resurface the playground area last year, which was covered with sticks and rocks.

“It was not a safe environment for kids,” she said.

This year, the scouts came back to maintain the playground, and topped it off with an inch of mulch, paid for by the Cub Scouts and Knights of Columbus.

Gavin Bastarache, son of Daniel and Denise, said the playground used to have sharp rocks on the ground.

“Whenever you fell, it hurt really bad,” he said. “We weren’t allowed to run on it.”

Now, he and other students can run and play games like tag, he said.

The scouts do many service projects throughout the year, and said they enjoyed endeavors like the one on which they were working Saturday.

“It’s a good thing for the community,” said scout Caleb Aportria.

St. James first grade teacher Julie Noble said the school appreciated the scouts’ work.

“It’s a major help,” she said.

Also that day at St. James was a “stuff the truck” event sponsored by the Catholic Order of Foresters to collect items for Biddeford and Saco food pantries, as part of National Join Hands Day.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 325 or [email protected].