Earning the rank of Eagle Scout is an achievement that only about 6% of Scouts earn. Gavin is currently working on his Eagle Scout Project, and is seeking help from the community in funding his project. The Eagle Scout Project is widely considered to be the biggest challenge in earning the rank of Eagle Scout as the project requires extensive planning, preparation, hard work, leadership, and community involvement.
When Gavin started considering potential Eagle Scout Project ideas that would enhance his community, a few ideas came to mind, but after meeting with Prophetstown city officials, and having the opportunity to enhance the park that his Grandfather Larry VanDyke helped establish, Gavin has chosen to build a new shaded seating area at Eclipse Square Memorial Park. The park started out to be the host of Memorial Day Services and the Love Light Tree Lighting, but now, it is host to weekly summer concert series, family picnics, community festivals, photography backdrops, weekly meals for kids, movies in the park, local church services, community fundraisers and so much more. With the growth of events held at this park, the need for more shade and seating has also grown.
Many steps have already been taken in the evolution of the project, and there is still more work to be done. Gavin has torn out shrubs, removed truckloads of mulch and learned how to pour a 25×25 concrete pad. Gavin will soon begin building a shade pergola structure to anchor on to the cement pad as his shade structure. Gavin has received wonderful support from the City of Prophetstown and the Public Works Department on the planning of this project and this has been such a great learning experience for Gavin and his fellow Scouts.
Gavin has been fundraising for this project for the past few years, but due to the rising costs of building materials, he is seeking a little extra help from the community. Gavin has set up an account at Farmers National Bank if you would like to offer him financial assistance in pursuing this project.
