Dexter teen one step closer to Eagle Scout award

Gary Exelby photo - Lawson Metcalf, left, of the Dexter Department of Parks and Recreation, and Eagle Scout candidate Greg Ulm point to the fruits of the labors of Ulm and his crew: refurbishment of the concession stands/restroom/storage shed at the ball fields at the corner of Grant Street and Park Lane. Ulm was required to plan, develop and provide leadership to a service project benefiting a religious institution, school or the community. Elm's candidacy for Eagle Scout rank is to be decided on Nov. 15, when an Eagle Scout review board convenes. More pictures of the project can be seen on page seven of our Sunday, Nov. 6th print edition.

Greg Ulm is on the home stretch to the top Scouting rank.

Ulm, 13, is seeking to become an Eagle Scout and has completed his Eagle Scout project, refurbishment of the concession stand and restrooms at the softball field facility at the intersection of park Lane and Grant Street.

"What they did," said Lawson Metcalf of the city Department of Parks and Recreation on Thursday afternoon, "was to reroof the building." That meant taking off the roof, decking and boards to be replaced with aluminum.

It also meant painting the entire building, and installation of vinyl siding. "And they replaced the concession window," Metcalf said.

Total manpower expenditure, Metcalf estimated, was 300 man-hours.

But Ulm did not -- could not -- do such a big job all by himself in the amount of time it took to get it done. "I have between 5 and 20 scouts from Troop 200 helping at any one time.," he said Thursday afternoon. Metcalf added some of the parents also helped out.

Ulm said the work started on Oct. 8 and was completed on Oct. 29. "I had a budget of $1,500 for all the work," he said, "and it came in at $118 under budget."

Among the many requirements to achieve Eagle Scout rank, a Boy Scout (at Life Scout rank) is required to plan, develop and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or the community. The project is supposed to benefit an organization other than Boy Scouting

"What I did, was to take the plans the Parks Department was already intending to use," Ulm said, "and we executed it."

Ulm thanked all those who helped on the project for all their hard work. As to the task itself, Ulm refused to characterize it as either hard work or fun, but something in between. "The hardest part was the roof," he said. "I'm glad we had enough people to do it."

Along the lines of personnel management, Ulm's father David Ulm said Greg was required, as part of his leadership responsibility, to make sure those helping got fed. "And I want to thank Dexter Pizza Co. and Wal-mart for donating the food we ate during this project," Greg Ulm said.

Ulm awaits the judgement of the Eagle Scout board, scheduled to meet Nov. 15. "I also want to thank the city for trusting us to do this project for them," he said through his mother, Linda Ulm, on Friday morning.

gexelby@dailystatesman.com