Thursday, March 28, 2024

Scout designs, builds planter for park as Eagle project

August Kozisek, a Triton sophomore and Life Scout member of Troop 58, was looking for a project to complete to become an Eagle Scout when Carol Johnson approached him about a planter underneath the Lions Park sign.

The park is located in the development across the road from the Triton schools near the water tower. The Dodge Center Lions have been raising money to install playground equipment in the park.

Kozisek said he went to the park with Johnson and they talked about what the Lions had in mind – a brick structure with plants in the middle. He liked the idea of the project and got approval to go ahead from both the Scouting organization and the city.

His father, he said, knew a landscaper, who helped with the design for the planter. A large part of the project would be raising the $1,700 needed to bring it to completion, which required the him to seek donations.

“A lot of the businesses were very generous,” he said.

With the money raised and the materials purchased, Kozisek put together a group of friends, relatives

and scouts to go to the park one weekend in September and build the planter. There is still some work to done, he said, such as installing LED lighting. Johnson will be taking care of putting the flowers in next spring, he said.

“I learned a lot from the project,” he said.

Just because the planter is now built does not mean the project is completed.

“The paperwork is half the project, I want to get it done in December,” he said.

Kozisek said he got involved in scouting in first grade when he joined the Cub Scouts. He has advanced through the ranks and is now a Life Scout.

His dad, who was also an Eagle Scout, was the Den leader when he was in the lower scouting grades and when the younger Kozisek moved up to the Boy Scouts, he followed and became the scoutmaster.

Kozisek said he has earned 20-plus merit badges including some that are required for the Eagle Scout rank. He has attended camporees at the council and district level and has gone to a scout camp in northern Wisconsin.

He also went with the Kasson troop on a camping trip to the Boundary Waters, he said.

Troop 58 usually meets at Faith Lutheran although they are planning another recruitment event for Oct. 24, he said. There are currently five members in the troop and that number will drop when one of the scouts turns 18.

Dropping below five members would technically mean the troop is dormant, although individual scouts could attend scout troops in Kasson, Hayfield, Owatonna or Kenyon.

The Cub Scouts currently have 13 attending their meetings so Kozisek said the troop will likely be getting members from that group as they get older. He also said that a person can join the scouts at any age and do not have to start as a Cub Scout.

Scouts are not his only interests as he is active in a variety of activities at school.

He is on the Student Council, a member of the choir and band and also has performed in the musical. Athletically, he plays football and runs track. He plays either running for fullback on the football team but his season was cut short this year when he injured his ACL. In fact, he said, he was scheduled to under surgery to repair the injury this past Monday.

He said doctors have said recovery time will be six to nine months but he is still hoping he can run track in the spring.

 

 

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