Ben's Eagle Project

I love Scouting! In a world with so many stale negative male stereotypes, scouting is a breath of fresh air. It sets high expectations for boys it terms of virtue, hard work and growth. It's also something I can easily relate to. I have always loved the outdoors and nature rejuvenates me. Unlike sports, which ironically I don't really care for, scouting provides all kinds of fun for moms and boys.

With that said, it has been incredible to watch Ben on his journey from Cub to Eagle Scout. He is almost finished - just about a half a merit badge left! Becoming an Eagle Scout is a cumulation of years of work. A boy has to earn 21 merit badges, including some really tough ones like Environmental Science and Lifesaving, and organize an Eagle project. Ben completed his Eagle Project last month on June 19.

Paul originally heard about some potential projects from the City of Englewood because he is a scout leader in our ward. Ben and I attended a meeting, and while our first idea fell through (due to a hurried lady who didn't understand the value of the scouting program - bah!) the project he ended up with was perfect. There was a roundabout that controlled the traffic between bikers and golf carts on the Englewood golf course, the Broken Tee. The plan had been to landscape it but . . . they ran out of time and manpower. That's where Ben stepped in. He met with the grounds director, Dave Lee, and took on the project. He researched the proper kind of plants (xeriscape and poor soil friendly) and we visited many, many nurseries. He tracked costs on all the supplies and went back to the site to do diagrams. He planned a watering system and then wrote the whole thing up. He had to get it approved by four different people and then he started announcing the project at church. On June 19th, with about 23 volunteers, he dug a lot of holes, planted 57 plants, rolled out over 1200 square feet of weedblocker, laid about 200 feet of drip systems, and hauled 16 tons of rock. Here is a before picture:



One can see the one lone tree. And some large rocks and weeds. That's it!



Here's Ben with all the plants.




Ben gave a little pre-game pep talk. He also had a lovely wrap up speech. I need to get that boy into public speaking or debate club.



He had a small army of volunteers. The day was really warm and the holes were difficult to dig because the ground was really hard.



Lookin' good there honey! Father of the Eagle shows off the guns.



Ben consults with fellow workers on the drip system.



The infamous 16 ton rock pile. Yuk! That thing was a nightmare! We broke 2 wheelbarrows and strained a lot of muscles on this.



And the final product! I can't wait to see how it looks when it grows in a few years from now.



Paul and I are so proud of all the hard work Ben did on this. He truly fulfilled the point of an Eagle Project - he demonstrated real leadership ability. It's hard for me to believe that my little boy could put together such a totally amazing, really well executed project like this. Good job Ben!