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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eagle-worthy efforts

Scouts completing projects to earn Boy Scout’s top award

Boy Scout Kelby Lind, right, carries rolled sod to where he and other Scouts were landscaping a corner of the parking lot at the Spokane Valley Heritage museum  July 30. The Scouts contoured the area, planted border shrubs, placed edging and laid out the grass as part of Lind’s Eagle Scout project.  (Jesse Tinsley)

The summer months are always a good time to complete outdoor projects, and two Spokane Valley teens are taking advantage of the nice weather to work outdoors and earn their Eagle Scout rank.

Devan Morgan, 15, of Troop 400, volunteered at Camp Caro in the Dishman Hills to re-establish the PineCliff Discovery Trail. Morgan, other Scouts, friends and family spent a recent day installing new wooden posts and brochure boxes at points of interest along the trail.

Morgan’s mother, Becca Morgan, said her son had been planning this project since April 2009. He contacted Spokane County Parks and found out about the project and volunteered. He gathered up donations of the posts and brochure boxes from Windsor Plywood and Home Depot.

“I think it’s a great project,” said his father, Jack Morgan.

Morgan, who will be a sophomore at Central Valley High School this fall, said that after the project is completed he must write up a presentation about the work he did before he can receive his new rank. Eagle Scout candidates must be a Life Scout and earn a certain number of badges before they can start earning their new rank.

“He has all of that,” his mother said. “I’m extremely proud of him.”

At the Spokane Valley Heritage Museum, Kelby Lind, 16, a candidate for Eagle Scout, was working in the sun, putting in landscaping for the museum’s upcoming outdoor exhibits.

Lind, currently a Life Scout, is a resident of Newman Lake and attends Gonzaga Prep.

“We wanted to liven it up a little bit,” Lind said about the back parking lot of the museum.

Lind said the project includes planting bushes and trees, spreading dirt and bark and laying sod.

“Everything that we have has been donated,” he said. Those he approached for the items he needed include Home Depot, Greenacres Nursery, Sunrise Trucking and Basin Sod.

Lind, from Troop 413, said he approached the museum’s director, Jayne Singleton, in March to ask about a project.

“Kelby has actually helped us in the past,” Singleton said. “It’s heartwarming to see the museum has made an impression on him.”

Singleton said the museum has been planning an outdoor agricultural exhibit for some time. The landscaping project will get the museum that much closer.

“They’ve worked really hard,” Singleton said of Lind and his volunteers.