MONROE — It’s hard to miss the bright orange flags attached to poles at several intersections in downtown Monroe.
That’s exactly what 16-year-old Boy Scout Vincent Carus intended when he started his Eagle Scout project with Troop 180.
“They are there to assist pedestrians with being more visible when crossing the street,” Carus said.
Carus is homeschooled but attends Monroe High School for band. He has been involved in Scouts since he was 7 years old and currently serves as a Patrol Leader of Troop 180. His father, Luis, is one of the adult leaders and Dan Saunders is the Scoutmaster.
When thinking about attaining the Boy Scouts highest rank, Carus thought it would be “pretty cool to achieve.”
He started researching potential Eagle Scout projects and read a Dane County study about a similar project and the color orange being highly visible.
“I thought about the students in Monroe, how they walk home or to the library after school, and how they cross busy streets,” said Carus. “I wanted the students and all pedestrians to be more visible and safer as they crossed the streets, especially in downtown Monroe.”
Carus did some research to see if this type of project might fulfill the requirements for his Eagle Scout project.
“One of the requirements is that the project must benefit an organization other than the Boy Scouts of America,” Carus said. “And the project proposal must be approved by the organization benefiting from the effort, your unit leader and unit committee, and the council or district before you start.”
Carus worked with Monroe City Administrator Phil Rath and attended several meetings of the Monroe Common Council, Historic Preservation Commission and Public Safety Committee.
“Vincent approached the City of Monroe regarding a proposed idea for his Eagle Scout project,” said Brooke Bauman, who serves as an alderman on the council. “He attended a city council meeting and made a presentation detailing his plan that would help with pedestrian safety in the downtown area.”
Bauman added that the council was very appreciative that Vincent thought about Monroe and the safety of its citizens when selecting his project.
“With overwhelming approval and appreciation, the city gave their approval for him to move forward with the project,” said Bauman, noting that the city was grateful to Carus for coming up with the project and asking permission from the city to move forward.
Once he was given approval, Carus made a detailed plan, purchased supplies, and organized several Scout work parties with eight to 12 Scouts attending to assemble flags and containers and to apply information tags to the containers to then place at the different intersections.
“We made enough for six intersections,” added Carus. “My hope is that this is a base project for other Scouts or other organizations to build onto.”
Carus estimates that the project has provided about 30 to 40 hours of “valuable community service.”
Currently, everything has received approval and Carus is working on additional paperwork and authorization so that he can send in his Eagle Scout request.
Carus said that the best part about being a Boy Scout is the many adventures that Troop 180 takes and opportunities to “teach younger Scouts about new things and then observe them experiencing things for the first time.”
Not sure of his plans after two more years of homeschool, Carus is sure that he will be involved in Troop 180 for as long as he can.
Troop 180 was founded in 1978 and chartered by the United Methodist Church of Monroe and is most known for its camping trips as well as canoeing expeditions. Over the years, many Scouts have participated in Philmont Scout Ranch, Space Camp and Florida Sea Base Camp.
To date, Troup 180 has more than 40 Scouts who have earned the rank of Eagle Scout. Those interested in joining Troop 180 should contact Scoutmaster Dan Saunders at 608-328-7355 or dnsaunders@wekz.net.
