Local Teen to Become Eagle Scout

An Eagle Scout is the highest achievable rank in the Boy Scouts of America program. The designation, Eagle Scout, was made well over 100 years ago. Only 4 percent of boy scouts ever attain this achievement, and it takes much work, effort and time to do so.

Shawn Daleske is a Life Scout from Troop 141, sponsored by Pella Lutheran Church, and is on his way to becoming an Eagle Scout with enough help from his community.

Daleske, son of Tom and Arlys of Sidney, has completed all the requirements to become an Eagle Scout, except for his Eagle Scout Project. His project will help the Sidney Trap Club by raising the necessary funds to build a new shelter to protect people from the sun and rain who use the Trap Club, as well as to provide new shingles for the club building's current roof.

The trap club exists to give local residents a place to competitively or leisurely shoot skeet, where participants use shotguns to break clay targets flung into the air from two fixed stations at high speed from a variety of angles. Whereas the club was a popular place in decades past, other attractions seem to have diminished the club's activity and decreased its participants.

The Sidney Trap Club, located just north of Sidney on Highway 16 at the reclaimed site of an old landfill, has been struggling for membership for several years. They have found an enthusiastic participant in the young Daleske, however. He has been participating for several years and finds the sport fun.

"Most of the current members of the trap club are elderly," Daleske told the Roundup, "and so I really want to be able to help them out. Membership has dwindled and I enjoy the activity, but the club needs some help."

When asked what appealed to him about becoming an Eagle Scout considering the immense amount of work that goes into the Eagle Scout project, Daleske said, "Most scouts quit long before they become an Eagle Scout. Most quit and don't go all the way, and it takes a lot of work. But, it looks great on a resume' and teaches valuable skills that I'll use for a long time.

Those skills, according to Daleske, include responsibility, perseverance, how to start fires, how to cook over fires, how to properly sharpen knives, administer first aid and other practical skills and life values. At seventeen years of age, Daleske feels as though the scout program has helped to prepare him for life in general.

Daleske explained, "Being an Eagle Scout means trying to help the community where I live. And, I think this is a good place to start."

Building the shelter for the Sidney Trap Club and completing his Eagle Scout project will cost approximately six thousand dollars.

If one would like to donate to the cause, they can give funds in name of the project to the Richland County Community Foundation, who will hold all the monies received and disburse them to Daleske as the project goes forward.