Once again, Lakeside is the beneficiary of volunteering.
Boy Scout – and soon-to-be Eagle Scout – Forest Newton has taken on an Eagle Scout project to benefit the Lakeside community. Along with the help of his friends and volunteers, Newton is building a bus shelter at the entrance to Tamarack Woods.
Newton explained that to achieve the status of an Eagle Scout, his project must serve the community – and undoubtedly his project will.
Newton’s bus shelter is being developed at the base of a walking path at the base of the Tamarack Woods community, which is at the crossroads of Blacktail Road and Tamarack Woods Drive.
It’s a place where some folks wait for rides, whether up to Blacktail Mountain to ski, or to safely get to Lakeside Elementary school.
Newton and his family live in Tamarack Woods, so he is not only serving the community at large, but his immediate community as well.
To complete his project, Newton found help from his fellow church members Anthony Harris, Elder Julander and Elder Wood.
Their enthusiasm and collaboration is very much in the spirit of the Boy Scouts of America, which aims to develop character and to foster “the responsibilities of participating citizenship, and develop personal fitness.”
The “developing personal fitness” part was present as Newtown, Harris, Julander and Wood were breaking ground on one of the hottest days of the summer. They were shoveling away at dirt that seemed as dry as the air. Indeed, they were working hard on a day that would leave most of us saying, “ahh, not today … it’s too hot.”
Newton, who is leading the project, is a member of Troop 1928. Incidentally, Wood earned his Eagle Scout merit a few years ago and is keeping the Eagle Scout legacy going by helping and mentoring Newton with the project.
Once completed, Newton will be one step closer to becoming an Eagle Scout – something only about 2 million people have achieved since 1912. Eagle Scout is the highest advancement rank in the Boy Scout organization and requires the completion of 21 other merit badges for eligibility.
Watching them work, you would have a hard time telling whose project it was. For they were all working as if the project were their own – in a spirit of volunteerism that is pervasive in Lakeside (where incidentally, the local park is named Volunteer Park).
And it’s no surprise that local businesses have pitched in to also help with Newton’s project, donating much-needed materials to build the bus shelter. Newton received donations of wood and other materials from Sliter’s Hardware (sliters.com). And Kalispell Truss Center
(kalispelltruss.com) donated the roof trusses for the bus shelter as well. National home-improvement chain Lowe’s also donated some of the concrete.
When completed, the bus shelter will be more than just a better place to wait for a ride.
It will be a proud reminder of Newton’s Eagle Scout achievement. It will be yet another improvement for a community that exemplifies good citizenship. And it will be an example of local volunteerism, which makes Lakeside truly a wonderful place to live.