Nicodemus Wilderness Project -- Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists

For my outstanding project, I organized the planning, funding and constructing of an outdoor venue for a local church. I undertook this project in order to complete my eagle rank, which is the highest rank a person can achieve in the Boy Scouts of America. A major requirement of this project is that I personally lead a project that benefits my community. This venue that I constructed was a rosary path, which is a path that has a number of stones in the ground that line up with the beads of the rosary. People can walk down this path and reflect on the mysteries of the rosary while spending time outside and getting some fresh air.

Building the path took a lot of planning. I had to get advice from some professional landscapers and the church representative before I drew up an idea of what the path would look like. It took a few tries, but eventually I came up with a design that I liked. The next step was locating the materials. I worked with a local rock store owner to figure out what kinds of stones I would need and how much they would cost. Eventually, I realized how much money I needed and set out to raise it. I ran a bowling fundraiser with my local bowling alley in order to raise the necessary funds to build the path.

For the actual construction of the path, I asked for volunteers from my Boy Scout Troop. I ended up with fifteen other boys who could come out and help build the rosary path. The path had been previously cleared of overgrown plants thanks to a donation from a landscaper, so my volunteers and I went straight to work. We removed all of the garbage that still remained on the path, and we laid down a solid base or gravel for people to walk on. Nest we put paver stones in the middle of the path in the same pattern as the rosary, so that people could walk down the path and pray the rosary. After that, we constructed a cross at the front of the path and placed a dedication stone to thank everyone who donated their time, money, and energy in order to make this path become a reality.