I am an adult leader for out local Troop 1 as many know. Our troop has been here for over a hundred years. The head of our Physical Therapy dept. asked if I could make some new slider boards. She had heard I occasionally did wood working. I approaches Zach and his dad Darrel about doing this as a service project. We plan on making 10. these are the first 5. took about 3 hours including discussion and planning. the next batch will include a few longer and wider "big boy" sliders. used to help transfer folks from a wheel chair to a bed for example.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/686E2389-0864-450F-A0B3-8E9775F97F04.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1590575846)
planning the Maple.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/88282EB3-E879-44C2-88A2-F2EC46636223.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1590577443)
taking these home to sand and then return for some engraving and then finish. 30 inches long, 7.5 wide and 3/4 thick. they have a handle cut out on the face, but no pic. Zach did a good job. even did the router work with my Bosch palm router.
well Zach got things sanded nicely and returned for some custom engraving. he and his dad.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/E1E63F8A-9FEA-4741-B4CF-7E23BF5FAD3B.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1594552498)
maple slider boards for the PT department. just need a little finish now and he will be done.
Good project! was he able to engage others for the service hours? Good on you helping Doc!
that was a challenge, but ideally part of the process. darn covid.
That is a great project. Wish more young men were involved in Scouts these days.
Zach made the presentation of 5 slider boards to the rehab department today. We will make 5 more in the near future. Attended by the staff, and CEO & COO of the hospital. Zach felt like a "big dog" and seemed happy. He will have a scoutmaster conference, then and Eagle board of review and be deemed and Eagle scout. There are other pictures with me but I do not have any.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/CE99F8C8-A0B9-4917-9602-518AAA16CCD0.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1595012394)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/861E341C-31A8-4A53-8A9A-A93AE7532F66.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1595012393)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/081C3280-6ED2-4BD5-B327-49F9709B0A82.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1595013549)
that is me between Ken the CEO (blue shirt) and the PT rehab director Lori (middle). I am the one wearing the flag mask, that was made as a gift from Tammy from way up north in Michigan. Thanks Again!
Congratulations Zack!! I know you are proud of him Doc 8)
Good on him and his family pushing through the journey to become an Eagle! So many times seems scouts get to Star or Life and things get in the way. Good for you Doc helping him.
another project done. Eagle candidate Calvin made a Gaga ball pit for the local (2 blocks from my house) elementary school. and as they used to say on shake and bake commercials, "and I helped".
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/909917FB-2FB4-4E8B-8641-AE1CE3BB6BAE.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1650758632)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/50E85A16-1774-4D67-AA5C-BB02104C1E49.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1650663527)
driven the old state dump truck to get pea gravel.
Kay is half owner and is careful not to scratch my "Jimmy Carter" edition 1976 F700
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/0D6BE316-933E-4889-905A-B7B0BCF3E166.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1650758725)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/82940112-2F96-44EC-8CA4-130385DDB3CD.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1650758886)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/861E247D-1458-4ADF-A0C4-4B6DC651F2BD.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1650758919)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/7AB68A37-E8AC-4805-B0EA-167ACEE5B29C.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1650758738)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/F70C7BD1-996F-4F31-9244-E9E7BB042EAC.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1650758737)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/94EEB7AA-B3D5-4902-9527-286C7B20196A.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1650758744)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/7938DC1F-0C45-49A7-896F-A52AB3D0E1A5.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1650758743)
Looks like a job well done and everyone was happy 👍
Looks good!!!
And the wood came from where?
I have young adults that gets hired at the hardware store I work at.
They have no idea how to do anything. :( Well build anything that is.
Keep on teaching!!!!
Love it, Doc!
Once upon a time, I was the scoutmaster for my sons (2) troop. I was also the Playground committee Chair at the Intermediate school. 😉
There are no less than 7 Eagle Projects on that playground. One of them is a Gaga Pit just like the one you pictured.
One day, you and me will be able to trade stories in person.
The boards are from HD and are the brown colored pressure treated as recommended by the pit bracket maker. I decided to not intervene as the scout and his dad planned the project a while back, and I would not have a preserved wood for them.
Well done!
beginning on a bench for the fraternal order of police camp grounds. two benches with bases set in concrete out of pressure treated lumber. seat and back from Catalpa.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/2A3718B5-B79D-4B00-ABED-A19EFD207F60.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1657743816)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/84628DC9-80CB-4017-B3BB-0C70928B010A.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1657743814)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/A9289957-37B8-48ED-839A-6CB42802D282.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1657747562)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/08DEA189-F72B-4CFE-AB1B-A792A5EC9E4B.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1657747575)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/82E3825F-D79C-4DEF-B0F4-2D5E4AB3DE4F.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1657747025)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/15504327-D0BA-4FE5-9D90-ADA27F4103FC.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1657747607)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/D4A782F1-8753-4CE0-B187-ECEBB69E596C.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1657747028)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/9774E8DC-6884-42F2-B5E7-DC4C74E564B0.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1657747033)
Braden and Calven vs the draw knife. it is a learned skill. this is how you learn.
Nice project for the scout and the bench too. I did have to look up GaGa Ball, a new one on me.
I joke that it is Lady gaga ball... :). it is like charcuterie boards, all the kids know about it. I was told it came from someone overseas like Israel, by a camp counselor. they came to the US and made a pit. we played it at camp Alexander, Co first.
The more skills ya have the better off you are in the long run. :)
Great project for both the Scouts and the police. Good on ya for running the show!
Catalpa is wonderful wood for the project. Easy to work and has a long life outdoors.
well, the tall skinny farm kid (seen in prev. pics helping others) Payton got his eagle. He made benches for the local tech. organization for disabled adults. He will be the last Troop 1 eagle for a while, as we were unable to recharter this past year. Him and his dad, and I at his ceremony this past Sunday.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/IMG_9056.jpeg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=355818)
Well done! Great accomplishment.
I wear my shirt all the time so people can see that One.
That's awesome.
sorry to see that you're having chartering challenges.
Thanks! We went from 50 active scouts 10 years ago to 2. Kids that signed up in the last few years had issues or the parents did, and never showed up for meetings. It is a good program with the right concept in general. building character and self-sufficiency should never go out of style, but kids in junior high football are busy almost year-round.
I feel your pain Doc, my first troop came close to not having enough, but we staved it off for as long as I was there, but a few years after I left that area, they could not re-charter. They had a long history that was lost. When we relocated up here and went through another iteration it was a similar thing, I forget how long I was SM after serving once again in other positions with the troop, district, and council levels. About 5 years after I left due to issues with the council, our troop no longer had enough to recharter. Now I hear through the grapevine that our council will be dissolved and absorbed by (possibly) 2 other councils, which will really kill it for the local troops, having to drive over an hour to those new council offices.
We got a council exec a number of years ago who was more of a politician than a scouter and he alienated a large number of men and women who had been keeping our council alive with their endless work days at the camp on their own, contributions, and efforts all around fr several generations. He also drove away 2 generations of camp staff. He was the beginning of the end.
Funny thing though you made me think of. I had more Eagles in my last 5 years than I had in my previous 25 years. I wonder why that was? I never made Eagle, my son never made Eagle, but we both had some great Scouting experiences and gained a lot to carry us through life. In fact, I wouldn't be here were it not for Scouting. My Mom met my Dad at and Eagle court of Honer around 1940.
Lara has just earned her Girl Guiding Queens Medal, which is the top award for the Girls. But she had to join an out of town troop at the Ranger level. They have enough interest to keep the junior, and up to full Girl Guides active, but Lara and her friend were the first for the District, in 11 years to achieve the Queens Medal.
After School sports is a thing, and sometimes the meetings get shuffled around to account for sports. They are moving start time from 5:30 to :6:00 next term as Taylor and a couple of others have Touch Rugby practice 5 - 6:00 that evening.
Recruiting is generally kids bringing their school friends along , some join, some don't, but enough interest to keep the troop active.
You need the majority to be active, academic, athletic, and energetic kids. with a few that need more help. Payton is the epidemy. He was not into sports, but also in FFA and has several part time jobs, and also his own business trapping rascal armadillos. I needed one more merit badge, Citizenship in the Nation. It seemed too much like school. and a service project and that comes with a lot of paperwork. I did not decide to not get it, I was almost there. But I bought a truck and had a girlfriend, 3 sports a year and 9 clubs or so. So, my time and interest just ran out. I did not get my eagle rank but still try to live my life by all the teachings of the BSA.
Yeah, Lara worked to get the award this year as she is off to University about 4 hours away at the start of next year. So life would have gotten in the way. She was also lucky that a lot of her other activities counted for "community service", as well as her trip to the Cook Islands for a young leaders course counted for another badge.