Eagle Project

So my eagle project is finally finished. According to my log, I spent about 57 hours preparing it to go down. I built a half a mile trail behind Trinity Church on Friendly Avenue


6/9/10-6/11/10 I have been meeting with Mr. Shahbez after for 3 days during his later work hours when he is not as busy. We have been tweaking out my project to present to the Eagle board. I had been out to the trail about a month ago accessing the condition of the trail and so far the only major decisions trail wise has been that I would like to keep it as untainted by humanity as possible. I have named that trail the Trinity Wilderness Trail.


7/6/10 Apparently the Eagle board consisted of a ton of carpenters and they rejected my project idea because they didn't agree with the bridge designs. But, Mr. Shahbez has made a deal with them that if we can get it back to them in a week we could start on it. So far all I have learned is that there are things called red tape and that paperwork is fairly annoying.

7/27/10 Eagle board finally got back to us and have approved of my project. But unfortunately, my parents have decided i need to get a job and the job market is fairly dull. I have however made some calls and we have gotten Mr. Dawkins to do the grating to change the drain patterns of the trail. the launch date will be sometime in September.

9/25/10 The workday was great. We had 20 people show up to work on the project. I put my father, Mr. Grisgraber, and Mr. Moat who had chainsaws on chopping duty and they cut only the trees in the way of the trail and cut up fallen trees. I put 3 crews together to clear the trail from all debris and they circled around the trail 3 times. so the other crew could pick up after the others. I had designed the bridges to be set over the streams. Mr Samelak came in early that morning and I had given him 4 helpers but he said all he wanted was my brother and I had given them 2 hours to build both bridges, they were done in 1. I was amazed at their skill and speed. the work day went great and we were done with time to spare.

Overall, the experience awakened me to the underlying aspect of... PAPERWORK! I have never thought that there was so much need for paperwork for anything to get done. The project itself wasn't as bad as the paperwork that preceded it. That was the biggest challenge that surrounded the project. Finding a proper way to write paperwork has always been a real issue for me, especially having to find a middle ground with an unrelenting board. The next biggest obstacle was delegating the work. I had to find out who could do what and who could work well with who but not be too frivolous.

Just last month, I was invited to attend the Eagle Banquet where we were able to hear Congressman Howard Coble, a family friend, speak on the importance of the Boy Scouts. Only 2% of Scouts in the Scout program ever reach Eagle, so this is a rather huge moment for me. I was sponsored by Judge Susan Braye who opened my eyes to the difficulties of becoming a diplomat, but it just inspired me.

Cliff Notes-
Service- I did this for the Community
Creativity- I designed the bridges and the work scheduling and method of procedure.