Posted on 10/09/2012 2:18:01 PM PDT by SandRat
SIERRA VISTA— An effort to build a small park in remembrance of one of a local neighborhood’s most dedicated citizens has been aided by many facets of the community, but one young man’s contribution received a special acknowledgement.
The largest detention basin in McFadden Park will always be known to those close to the project as the “Eagle’s Nest.” The name recognizes the work of 16-year-old Colton James who recruited volunteers, coordinated their work and got his own hands dirty during a grant-funded green infrastructure workshop at the park in May as he pursued the scouts’ highest rank.
On Sunday, James received his Eagle Scout Award but that doesn’t mean his work with the scouts is finished, he said. James plans on earning Eagle Palms with continued activity in the scouts and even hopes to be a scout leader one day.
James thinks being a scout nurtures a lot of positive traits, namely those listed in the scouts law, which states “a scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.”
“Everything you do in scouting exemplifies one, some or all of these things and they’re qualities I want to continue to have as a I grow older,” James said.
Those traits undoubtedly helped him make a positive impression on members of the Southwest Sierra Vista Residents Association as he worked to help them honor Ken “Mac” McFadden by creating a park he had once envisioned.
The involvement of James was one indication of how the community has responded to the project, which is really encouraging to the association members, said Rosie Mackey, chair of its park committee.
“He was an absolute pleasure,” Mackey said. They are able to continue work on the park because of people like James.
Mackey was planning to attend James’s Eagle Scout ceremony on Sunday, she said last week. “He reached out to us, so we’re going to reach out to him.”
Since the city partnered with the Watershed Management Group to host the green infrastructure workshop, the park has also been improved by the donation of three benches from the Sierra Vista West Rotary Club, Mackey said. Now, after raising about $10,000 in 2011, the association is working toward getting a ramada in the park.
They currently have about $4,000 to $5,000 and will need more to get a ramada, which is the most expensive bit of their park improvement plan, Mackey said. Still, in the two years since they started, the project has come a long way.
“It’s amazing how many different people have contributed and encouraged us in every kind of way,” she said.
James said he is grateful to those that helped him become part of the 5 percent of scouts who reach the rank of Eagle Scout. He also did it a year earlier than the average Eagle Scout does.
He feels a big sense of accomplishment, especially in learning how to lead better, James said.
“I think I learned a lot in the way of dealing with change and just helped me learn a lot more responsibility,” he said. A few of the 10 volunteers he recruited from his church didn’t show up, so James had to rearrange the groups on the fly.
Since the volunteers were his friends he “knew what they were best at,” James said. Overall the project went smoothly and the work was done in about 6 hours.
“Some moments were frustrating but my friends were there and many hands make a light work,” James said.
Scout Ping
A bit less fancy than the “Eagle’s Nest” at Berchtesgaden.
My son is an Eagle, and his son will receive his next month. Every Eagle project affects the community, some more than others, and we should all be cognizant of the long lasting effect scouting has on our country.
Congratulations to your son. My oldest is meeting with a landscape architect tomorrow night to go over some designs and is getting ready to start the approval process. My other just earned First Class.
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