Scout Makes Barricades For City Of Noel
A Noel teen’s Eagle Scout project just might save some lives. Isaac Gardner, 17, of Noel, built 10 pairs of road barricades for the city
for his Eagle Scout project with the help of his Boy Scout troop and some friends and family.
A Noel teen’s Eagle Scout project just might save some lives.
Isaac Gardner, 17, of Noel, built 10 pairs of road barricades for the city for his Eagle Scout project with the help of his Boy Scout troop and some friends and family. Eagle Scout is the top scouting rank achievable in Boy Scouting, Isaac said.
“During the last flood there were a lot of water rescues, and a lot of roads were closed, but not a lot of barricades were up, and the ones that did have barricades weren’t very heavy, so people would just move them out of the way,” Isaac explained.
People who ignored the barricades and drove into flooded areas had to be rescued by emergency personnel. The barricades Isaac and his team built are made of sturdy wood and are quite heavy. They bear reflective tape and signs that read “Road closed. Local traffic only.”
“Hopefully these ones they won’t move around as easy and it’ll be pretty clear that the road is closed,” he said.
Isaac said it took the group five days to build 10 sets of two barricades. His father, Paul Gardner, estimated 170 man-hours went into the project.
“We used a bunch of power tools and we also used some manual tools. We hand-painted them because it’s a really thick latex paint,” he said.
Although about 10 other Boy Scouts in his troop helped, Isaac will get the credit for the project.
“It’s my project,” he said. “I coordinated, and they helped.”
He joined Cub Scouts at age 10 and has been in Boy Scouts since age 12, he said.
“There’s a lot of fun stuff to do, but there’s also a lot of stuff to teach you valuable skills to help you later in life. It’s taught me a lot of valuable character traits and knowledge that’s helped me get through the program and that’s helped me outside of it also,” he said.
Isaac’s mother, Nora Gardner, said, “I’m very proud. It’s been very stressful, but very proud that he’s been able to achieve what he wanted to.”
Paul Gardner said, “I am expressly proud of my young man for getting this far in the scout program. I’m frustrated it’s taken him this long, right up to his 18th birthday, but thanks to everyone coming behind him, it looks like it’s going to happen.”
Tyson Foods in Noel donated the materials for the project. Broadway Construction provided food and drink for the scout troop on a work day.