Louisa boy rewarded for mowing 50 yards this summer

Christopher Osborne, 12, of Fallsburg, was the recipient of new lawn equipment Saturday for completing the 50-yard challenge to mow, weed eat, blowing leaves, etc. for members in his community.

By Lilly Adkins

BSN Associate Editor

LOUISA — A12-year-old Lawrence County boy who participated in a 50-yard lawn-mowing challenge was the recipient of a new lawn mower, weed eater and leaf blower for his effort to help out the community.

Raising Men & Women Lawn Care Service owner Rodney Smith Jr., of Huntsville, Ala., brought the new lawn equipment, along with a T-shirt, to Christopher Osborne of Louisa on Saturday.

“Chris, you did it! Congratulations! Your mom talked to me about some of the struggles you overcame while doing the challenge,” Smith said on his Facebook page about the completion of the challenge. “You should feel very proud of yourself. You overcame them and you didn’t give up. Your community appreciates you more than you know.”

Smith also presented him with a certificate, which had a quote from Muhammad Ali, “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”

Osborne is a special-needs youngster who began his quest June 4 to complete 50 lawns this summer for free to people in the community who was either elderly, a single mom, disabled or a veteran. The work consisted of weed eating, push mowing, blowing leaves, etc.

The project is for boys and girls ages 7-17 to accept the challenge, and send a photo of them holding a sign saying, “I accept the 50 Yard Challenge.”

In return, they say they will send you a white shirt along with eye wear and ear protection to get participants started. Each time they completed 10 lawns, they received a new color shirt.

Once the first 10 lawns are done, they got an orange shirt; 20 lawns, a green shirt; 30 lawns, a blue shirt; 40 lawns, a red shirt; and 50 lawns, a black shirt.