Staff Report
Porter Dallenbach, Gabe Limotta and Craig Pattee, three Boy Scouts from Troop 42, recently earned their Eagle Scout rank.
To qualify for the honor, each boy completed the required 21 merit badges, rank advancements and Eagle projects over the span of about six years.
Porter’s Eagle Scout project goal was to redefine a walking path on the property of a local nonprofit. He worked hand-in-hand with property management over a period of several months to plan the layout, schedule the time and adhere to their safety requirements.
He enlisted the help of local business to donate tools and safety equipment, and several fellow Boy Scouts to dig, hoe, and clear the ground that extended the walking path further into the beautiful views the property has to offer.
Gabe decided to create videos of vocational guidance interviews for his Eagle project. He worked with members of the Santa Ynez Valley Rotary through their Vocational Services Committee to make a series of 16 interview videos, which Gabe directed, formatted and edited to create the series intended to inform youth about potential careers.
The videos can be viewed at syvrotary.org/vocational-guidance-interviews. Materials were provided by SYV Rotary and Community Robotics Learning Foundation.
Craig’s Eagle Project involved mapping the location and condition of the flagpole holes in the streets of downtown Solvang. The holes are about a foot deep with a protective brass plug and are used primarily during Danish Days to display both Danish and U.S. flags.
The mapping involved measuring the distances between holes and a reference point as well as plug type and condition and hole depth. The data was summarized, then plotted on city street maps.
Based on the city’s standard, the project team improved, repaired or restored existing holes. Craig and his team found 106 holes, but only 86 were deemed useable. The previous hand-drawn map (old enough to show a gas station at Alisal Road and Mission Street) showed 96 holes.
