John Gehring, a junior at Kentlake and member of Boy Scout Troop 945 in Covington, completed the service project portion required to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout. With the help of fellow scouts, family and friends, Gehring installed two large planting boxes in the outdoor wetland teaching area at Millennium Elementary in Kent Aug. 28 and 29.

In addition to the construction of the planting boxes, Gehring and his team of volunteers made significant improvements to an existing nature trail in the wetland area. The trail was so over grown with weeds, blackberry vines and tree branches it would not have been accessible to the staff and students at Millennium who use it regularly for outdoor teaching activities.

When Gehring receives his Eagle Scout award at a troop ceremony later this year, he will be joining a distinguished group of Eagle Scouts from Troop 945 as well as his own family. His father, Keith, along with six Gehring uncles and two cousins have achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.

• THANK YOU

I would like to thank all those who made my Eagle project possible. First, I would like to thank Carla Janes, the principal at Millennium Elementary for giving me the opportunity to complete my project where it will help enhance the teaching and learning experience for so many teachers and students. Thanks also to the local businesses that made generous donations to this project. TRM Wood Products in Maple Valley for the pressure treated lumber to build the planting boxes, Iddings Inc. in Covington for donating and delivering the gravel and top soil, Johnson’s Home and Garden in Maple Valley for the gift card to purchase ground cloth used for weed control and McClendon’s Hardware and Garden in Kent for another donation of ground cloth. Little Cesar’s Pizza Covington-Lake Meridian who donated 10 pizzas to help feed the hungry volunteers on Friday and Jersey Mike’s Subs of Covington who went above and beyond with a very generous donation of sub sandwiches, chips and sodas to help feed Saturday’s crew. Of course, the thank you list would not be complete without acknowledging all the volunteers who gave their time and labor to complete this project on schedule.

John Gehring