WOODS CROSS -- After two years of working on his Eagle Scout project and dealing with setbacks, including a holdup in the Supreme Court, Tom Smith can finally begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Tom, 16, said he wanted to do something that would better the community by inspiring all boys to be good, outstanding and upright citizens by living the principles of the Scout oath, motto and slogan. Because the 100th anniversary of the Scouting program was close, he came up with the idea for a Boy Scout monument to be installed at the city park.
The idea was readily accepted by the city council. In fact, before he even sat down, Councilwoman Jenny Decker pulled out her checkbook and donated $100 to the project.
"The monument is unquestionably the most ambitious effort to memorialize the Scouting movement in the world," said Tom. "It will stand approximately 17 1/2 feet high and feature a 17 1/2-foot-high bronze sculpture of a Boy Scout peering off a climb atop an 8-foot-high monolithic pedestal."
Artist Stanley J. Watts, well known for his religious and patriotic monuments, was commissioned as the sculptor. The pedestal is being created by Unlimited Designs, Inc. who is patterning it after Norman Rockwell's painting entitled "The Scout Oath." Three sides will contain the Scout oath, law, motto and slogan. The fourth side will contain a bronze plaque acknowledging the names of Watts and other donors as well as the words "1910-2010, 100 years of Scouting's Values."
So far the bronze casting is finished and the pedestal is in production. Construction on the foundation began last week.
As the project progressed from idea to reality, so did the anticipated costs, Smith said. So far, $38,633.35 has been raised and another $6,000 is needed to complete the project.
"The economic recession has significantly impacted the project, not only by increasing the costs, but by inhibited contributions," said Tom's father, Ron Smith. "In addition, unbeknownst to Tom and four years earlier, Summum Ra of Salt Lake City had been rejected by the city of Pleasant Grove when he requested to place a monument of his choosing in its city park."
A lawsuit was filed and went all the way to the Supreme Court. That caused Tom's project to come to a screeching halt until a verdict was made.
"The ruling, rendered on Feb. 25, 2009, favored the side of the municipalities and progress on Tom's monument resumed as everyone breathed a sigh of relief," Smith said.
Smith said despite a few setbacks, Tom has always remained positive and ambitious, which is nothing new. The teenager has always had a love for the Scouting program. So much so that he earned and then paid for a $2,400 trip to the 2005 National Boy Scout Jamboree. He forked over another $700 of his own to hike 100 miles on a Philmont expedition in New Mexico.
"I have always loved Scouting and had a wonderful time in Scouts," Tom said. "I have had some of the neatest leaders in the world who are now among my best friends."
While Tom is still putting in hours on the project, he is asking for donations to complete the project. They can be made by deposit into the Woods Cross Scout Monument Fund at any Utah First Credit Union.
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