Fence at church Tyler Brower’s project

He may not be the first Eagle Scout in his family, but 15-year-old Tyler Brower is determined to reach the ranking at an earlier age than his older brother did.

Brower expects to have his Eagle Scout project fully approved while he’s still six months younger than Alex Brower was in 2003, when he built a railing for a handicapped walkway at a boat launch.

This spring, the younger Brower quarterbacked the installation of a 50-by-50-foot chain link fence around Peace Lutheran Church playground in Otis Orchards, where he attends services.

“I like the church and I just thought it would be something for them in return,” said Brower, a member of Otis Orchards’ Troop 481.

On two separate work days, fellow Scouts and adult volunteers logged 210 hours erecting the fence.

“It took 15 Scouts and about five adults. Materials were about $900, which the church had already collected,” said Brower during a recent visit home from working the archery range at Camp Cowles, a Scouts camp.

Up to 100 Scouts between the ages of 11 and 18 visit Camp Cowles’ archery range each day, he said. He pockets $100 a week helping them learn the craft.

After camp’s last session, he plans to buckle down and finish the paperwork on his Eagle Scout project.

“If I didn’t have the support of my family and community I probably wouldn’t have gotten it done. And I probably would have dropped out of Scouts,” he said.

“But now that I’ve gotten this far, Scouts is a major thing in my life.”