The daughter of a long time Boomershooter has a daughter working on her Eagle Scout project and needs some money to complete it.
Here is her GoFundMe pitch:
Hello, everyone! My name is Elysia, and I’m a Scout from Troop 498. I want to be the first female Scout from my Troop.
For my Eagle Project, I want to build a eagle-perching pole on Eagle Island in Eagle Lake. A previous Eagle Scout put a pole on the island for our local eagles to perch on. It was there for many years, but it was made from a fallen tree, and eventually it rotted, and it fell during a winter wind storm. The community has wanted to replace it with something better, but there are a lot of projects they want to do, and not a lot of people that want to take charge. They were very happy when I said I wanted to do this!
My plan is to get a 35-foot aluminum flagpole and mount it in a concrete foundation on the island. At the top, I will put a lightweight triangular perching structure to replace the usual ball at the top of the flagpole. I will build the perching structure out of aluminum pipe and aluminum sheets, welded together into support arms, with some hardwood dowels for the eagles to actually perch on.
The flagpole is the most expensive part of the whole project at about $3750, but we need a pole like that because:
- We need to transport the flagpole to the island by rowboat, and it comes in two 75-lb pieces. Wood utility poles would be too heavy to transport, even if they float.
- The island is only 20-feet in diameter, so the pole needs to be light enough for a few people to lift it into the foundation socket without heavy equipment
- Wood will eventually rot away, but we’re using only aluminum pole, aluminum screws and aluminum parts for the perch, so we won’t get galvanic corrosion between different metals.
- The pole is rated for 60mph winds with a flag on it, so that should stand up to windstorms even with the perch at the top
- It should be strong enough for 12-lb eagles to land on, but too wobbly for them to try to build a nest on it.
I hope to build the concrete foundation for the flagpole in August while the weather is dry and the lake is low. Then I’ll get the aluminum parts together to build the perch assembly, and some of the volunteers from my troop know some Boeing engineers with the right kind of equipment to weld aluminum. (I have my Welding merit badge, but welding aluminum is not like welding steel!)
About me:
- My cultural background is Peruvian, Texan, English, and Cantonese, and my dad is a US Veteran.
- The Hamlin Robinson School is the best school for kids with dyslexia and language development difficulties. They really helped me! I hope they can help someone you know.
- I am learning American Sign Language, and I hope I can earn my Translator patch soon.
- I help my grandma at the Shelton Community Lifeline, when I can. If we raise more money than we need for this project, and my local community agrees, I want to use any extra to help the homeless shelter.
After my $50 donation she has 3,920 of her $4,500 goal. Can you guys push her over the top? Donate here.
I am against the use of an aluminum pole. Yes the aluminum pole will not rot and fall after a few years but as aluminum is an excellent conductor of electricity what you will be constructing is a large lighting rod for eagles to sit on. This will easily kill any eagle or other birds that may have the misfortune to be sitting there during a lighting storm.
What I would do is install a very tall telephone type pole. As the wood in those poles are treated it would last for many many years and would not easily attract lighting.
The lakes in question are also very adjacent to some 200′ foot tall towers with high tension power lines running over them. The lightning risk is very much a solved problem through the simple expedient of a much, much taller conductor being close by.
This is stunning. No matter what somebody tries to do, there is somebody who MUST shit on it.
Did you miss that part in the story about the problems with using wood? Nah. You stopped reading by that part.
This comment is worth $50 from me. STFU already.
Actually, wet wood is conductive too; the somewhat higher resistance makes no meaningful difference to lightning. Consider that it already traveled through a mile of air to get to the target. And indeed trees — and wood telephone poles — do get hit by lightning.
Why is a girl in the Boy Scouts?
Things used to have meaning.
That fight was lost five years ago.
It’s not the “Boy Scouts” any more, and it hasn’t been for 2.5 years. It’s now “Scouting BSA”, and there are just “Scouts”. (The phrase nobody says is “girl scouts”, because the Girl Scouts of America get all lawyer-y when someone says that.) So, your question is an anachronism.
There’s no “Boy’s Life” magazine. There is now “Scout Life“.
The last vestige of that is that there are boys’ troops and girl’s troops. Troop 498/8498 is a “Family Troop” in that the two organizationally separate troops operate in practice as a single troop with a single calendar. The inclusion of girls into the Scouting program has not deprived any boys of leadership opportunities. The troop has two Senior Patrol Leaders, one male, one female, and the adult leadership has made it clear that when an SPL tells you to do something, you do it.
In any case, the decision of how to proceed is solely in the hands of the sponsoring organization. Some churches have established Girl Scout troops, and so they didn’t establish girl troops for their Scouts BSA organization. There are some Girl-only troops that have been established, and they don’t have to take boys. The American Legion post that sponsors Troop 498/8498 decided they wanted both. If you don’t like it, I can point you to an elderly combat veteran and you can yell at him to tell him he’s doing it wrong.