Posted on 05/20/2010 7:00:21 PM PDT by SandRat
The town of Marana is offering Boy Scouts plenty of chances to "do a good deed daily" - and work toward their Eagle Scout awards in the process.
Though the town and the Scouts have been working together for several years, the help has been particularly welcome as town finances have gotten tighter and budgets have dried up, according to town officials.
The Parks and Recreation department is a big beneficiary of the Scouts' efforts. Scouts have installed a community water demonstration garden at the Marana Operations Center on West Ina Road, placed trail signs along the Tortolita Preserve Trail, planted trees, dug burrow habitats for owls, worked at the Western Heritage Arena and more.
The boys also have done a lot of work at Marana schools.
"There's quite a few of them (projects) going on all the time," said John Officer, who has worked with Boy Scout troops in the area since moving here in 1990.
He also serves on the town Parks and Recreation Citizen Advisory Commission and is involved with the Marana Heritage Conservancy.
From time to time, he'll ask Parks and Recreation Director Tom Ellis if there's anything the department needs to have done that it can't afford.
Officer loves it when boys come to him with their own ideas, but he also guides boys who are in need of something to do, he said. If the boy is interested in sports, he and the boy think along those lines. If the interest is more in computer-related activities, he and the Scout find something that fits.
"I'll help you, but you've got to help yourself first," Officer said.
When the day of the project rolls around, the boy needs to be present in his Boy Scout uniform, supervising a group of volunteers he has rallied.
That means lots of preparation, getting familiar enough with the subject matter that he can show people how to do what needs to be done.
Ron Brown, who serves as troop committee chairman for Troop 259, recently had four boys complete Eagle Scout projects in Marana, he said. Troop 259 is separate from the boys Officer works with, though Officer was scoutmaster for one of Brown's sons.
"There's always things that need to be done out here," Brown said.
There's no set amount of time a boy must invest in a project, he said.
Some projects can take thousands of hours and thousands of dollars, while others take hundreds of hours - from early planning stages to completion - and very little money, he said.
"It all depends on the boy's leadership ability," Brown said. "You actually get the community involved, and the more people you use, the better leadership it shows."
Once a project is finished, it must be presented to a review board to finalize its completion.
Working with the town has been great, Brown said.
"Tom Ellis really goes out of his way to make sure that the boys … show the leadership and they run with it," he said. "He doesn't take control of it. He makes sure it meets all the standards of the city, but he makes sure the boys are the ones doing the work."
Ellis said the town has been working with the Scouts for at least as long as he's worked there, which is about six years
The projects are sometimes a great money-saver for the town, and sometimes they improve things in a way nobody had thought of, he said.
For example, a recent project installing trail signs on the Tortolita Preserve Trail was on the town to-do list, but not at the top, he said.
"What would have taken us several weeks of sending people out amongst other things (that need to be done), they got it accomplished in a day," he said. "It helps us out. It helps the Scouts develop their leadership skills and get their Eagle project out of the way, so it's a good deal all around."
The trail sign project was carried out by Brown's son, Chandler, 13.
"I had to go through the trail and see what type of land there was, and then we had to order the trail markers and go put them in the ground," Chandler Brown said.
He got 37 people to help him with the installation at the end of February, he said.
"I learned a little bit about metalwork, and I also learned how to study, observe land a little bit more and how to also be more formal when I'm talking," Chandler said.
It's up to the Boy Scout in charge of a project to make phone calls and arrangements with adults. Sometimes they must also solicit donations from businesses or organize fundraisers to get resources for their projects.
At the beginning of this month, Jonathan Susa, 14, put on an Arbor Day event for which he supervised the planting of several trees in Ora Mae Harn Park. The endeavor took about a month and a half to plan and carry out, he said.
He looks forward to seeing the trees in 20 years and knowing he's responsible for them being there, he said.
"It's a cool feeling because I know I'm responsible for planting all that," he said.
He still needs to finish two more badges and go before a review board before he earns the Eagle Scout distinction, he said.
He followed in the footsteps of his brother Matt, 18, who in March had about 65 volunteers help him set up a water demonstration garden at the Marana Operations Center, 5100 W. Ina Road.
It's a place where the public can go and get ideas for plants they might want to put in their yards and the best ways to water them, he said.
He liked working with Parks and Recreation because the department does so much to contribute to the community, he said.
Through the project, he learned how to coordinate work between people he didn't already know personally, he said.
Officer said such skills are an important part of the program.
The Eagle project is "the biggest thing that they do. They have that stick-to-it-iveness, they'll endure to the end. The boys realize down the road, 'Hey, I can do this. Because I did that.' "
DID YOU KNOW
Completing a big project is just one of the requirements for boys to become Eagle Scouts, the highest achievement in Boy Scouts. Here is a list of what they must do.
• Be active in their troop, team, crew or ship for at least six months after achieving the rank of Life Scout.
• Demonstrate they live by the principles of the Boy Scout oath and law in their daily lives. People who know them must provide recommendations on their behalf.
• Earn a total of 21 merit badges, including 12 specific badges.
• While a Life Scout, serve for six months in one or more of several specific positions of responsibility.
• While a Life Scout, plan, develop and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution or school or the community. The project should benefit an organization other than Boy Scouts.
• Take part in a Scout Master conference.
• Complete an Eagle Scout board of review.
Source: www.scouting.org
Contact reporter Shelley Shelton at sshelton@azstarnet.com or 807-8464.
Scout works on his Eagle Project. *PING*
Tomorrow’s story is about the ACLU and SEIU trying to shut this down.
That should be union work!
/sarc
AZ is a Right to Work State and Unions generally get the finger.
AZ sounds better and better all the time
My Troop has done many many Eagle Projects at our local State Park. These include clearing trails, building steps on steep trails, constructing foot bridges over streams and numerous others.
The need is great and the funds are small.
Some of this need was filled by work gangs from the State Prison. Criminals are taking Scout’s work. :)
Actually, there is an endless need and plenty of work to go round.
I have noticed recently there is a tendency to place a small plaque on the project noting particulars. Do any of you have photos of such little signs? I think that is a good idea and might be a project for an old guy to fund for my troop.
criminals are taking scouts work. lol.
What’s next the AARP going door to door selling cookies?
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