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To obtain Eagle Rank, New Albany resident and Life Scout Evan Ryan served as project manager for the construction of a shed for the New Albany Community Garden (NACG).
The 15-year-old New Albany High School sophomore oversaw construction carried out by volunteers from the New Albany Boy Scout Troop 450 and the NACG. The shed serves as a storage space for tools and other equipment at the garden. They began construction on Sept. 19.
“Evan has been pleasure to work with on this project,” NACG President Nanette Nardi Triplett says. “He has put in a lot of effort, and it shows. It is amazing how Evan’s planning has kept the project at or ahead of plan.”
As the project manager, Evan is unable to physically help construct the shed, and he has
Photo by Linda Ryan
looked to his parents, fellow boy scouts and their parents and garden volunteers to help out.
“The reason for this is to show leadership, organization and planning to get the project completed,” Evan says.
Evan became involved with this project last spring when he met the Executive Director of Healthy New Albany, Dr. Phillip Heit, he says. While talking with Heit, Evan learned about the project, and then volunteered to lead it and partner with Heit.
Their first meeting was on April 26, where they discussed the vision for the shed, Evan says. In addition, Evan had to meet with several people and organizations to make this project possible.
“I had several hurdles to jump (through) get the necessary approvals to construct the shed, but I had a lot of great help from different members of the community,” Evan says.
The shed was built for NACG to protect their supplies from inclement weather and keep them in a set location, Nardi Triplett says. This will allow NACG to accept tool donations that can be shared rather than having the residents of New Albany bring their own tools to work on their garden plots.
“When the shed is fully complete, we can store those items in the shed and accept garden tool donations and not worry about reducing their useful life,” Nardi Triplett says.
Evan has been an active Boy Scout for close to five years, as he joined in January 2011.
“So far, the most rewarding part of this has been learning the leadership skills required to complete this project and knowing that I am contributing to making my community better,” Evan says.
