Eagle Scout Installs Community Welcome Sign(posted Aug 7) Notice the new "Welcome to the Town of Speedway" sign in town that was erected August 3 on Crawfordsville Road? The sign symbolizes more than welcome. It's Zach Razor's Eagle Scout Project that started July 10, 2006 to better the community. "I designed the sign," he said. His design includes the logo of Indianapolis Motor Speedway."The IMS is the biggest part of our town," he said. Razor also learned about licensing issues as he had to receive permission from the IMS to use the logo. Razor said he wanted to complete his Eagle Scout project in hopes of entering the air force academy. He is hoping this status will gain favorable recommendation with U.S. Senator Richard Lugar, who makes the appointments of those who can enter the academy. The project often times became a monkey on Razor's back as he made seven trips to the Department of Metropolitan Development on Sherman Drive to handle permitting issues and three trips to the city county building to get the permits stamped and recorded. "This is a load off my chest," he said when the street department started digging the post holes for the sign. It was an eye opening experience for Razor. He learned about government bureaucracy and red tape when he had to obtain and fill out the paperwork to receive an encroachment permit, street address and right-of-way permit, so he could legally place the sign in the median. He said his first choice to replace the Lion's sign was rejected. "I just hope it doesn't get hit," he said. The project took longer than Razor had hoped. Zach's mother Chris said he had to file for an extension since he could not complete the project before the allotted time. Not only does Zach care about his community, he is also in the National Honor Society. Chris Razor said her son is ranked 16th in his class and he also plays football. She said it is his own fault that his not in the top ten anymore. Zach had some challenging classes that included Physics, Anatomy, and Chemistry and Pre-Calculus The sign installation was a group effort. Part of becoming an Eagle Scout is learning to build leadership skills, so Razor delegated some of the installation tasks to other scouts Jay Staton, Jared Trackwell, Jesse Parks, Greg Thompson and Evan Featheroff of Scout Troop 505. "I believe in the scouting program. John Otto, Bill Harding, Dwayne Zishka are the nicest men," Chris said. She said Harding has been around since Scout Troop 505 started in 1964. Staton has already completed his Eagle Scout. He organized a carnival at the Dayspring Homeless Shelter for 35 kids this year. "The dunk tank was the main attraction," he said. They also provided a popcorn machine and snow cone machine as well as organizing games. Razor and his mom volunteered to help Staton with his project. "Zach was so impressed that he went back to volunteer at the shelter for his citizenship badge," she said. Razor also had the cooperative effort of the street department to install the sign. The lack of water has turned the clay soil into more like concrete. The augur could only go down so deep and the tool would spin on the soil. Finally the Street Department called in the Vactor truck to loosen the soil with water and suction. Greg Crider of the Street Department noted the town often uses the Vactor truck to dig out and not destroy underground utilities. Street Department Commissioner Wendall Walters said the sign placement was determined by the city and state based on the ability not to block views based on intersections. The sign is located in the median across from St. Andrew Lutheran church. "I think the sign is very attractive and an asset to welcome folks." Walters discussed Zach's experience of filling out the paper work to comply with government's requirements. "It gave him a true understanding of the time involved and magnitude to do the paper work," he said. "It was tedious and frustrating, but I wasn't going to give up," Razor said in reference to filling out the paperwork and making multiple trips to the the DMD it took to accomplish the job. |
|
