Acor volunteers his Eagle Scout time fixing a park

The horseshoe pits in Havre's Optimist Park had become overgrown with weeds. The backboards were falling apart. The sand was full of dirt and trash, rendering the pits virtually unusable.

Ellis Hawkes, then a Scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts of America in Havre, knew that one of his Scouts, Dakota Acor, was looking for a project to gain an Eagle Scout badge, and he told Dakota about the issue.

Dakota put the need and the volunteers together, and today the pits are repaired and being used again.

The project got done, Dakota says, because of a lot of donations from the community and the nealry 54 hours of work that he, family and friends put in.

The Eagle Scout honor is one of the highest honors a Scout can earn. About 5 percent of all Scouts reach that level.

But Dakota said he has enjoyed being in the Scouts since he was 6 - it has given him leadership skills and taught him the value of community service, he added.

Dakota moved to Havre about five years ago from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania,

"You learn a lot of practical things in life, and you make a lot of friends along the way," he said.

He has plenty of other talents.

He plays the saxophone in the Havre High Blue Pony Marching Band, sings bass in the choir and just missed going to the state finals for the Blue Pony swim team.

But Scouting has always had a special place in his heart.

He is a member of the Scout troop at his church, the Church of Latter-Day Saints in Havre.

In repairing the horseshoe pits, his task was to plan just what needed to be done, get the city's permission - which they quickly gave - contact local businesses for donations, gather volunteers to help him and go to work.

Among those who donated equipment and supplies were ProBuild Building and Construction, Havre Hardware and Home, Sherwin-Williams Paint Store and Patrick Construction Inc., he said.

With the supplies in hand, he packed up a truck and went with volunteers and started the hard work.

Especially helpful in the process, he said, was his father, Dr. Cameron Acor, who helped at every step, Dakota said.

Dakota is the oldest son of Cameron and Angie Acor, and the oldest of five children - all the others girls.

After graduating, he plans to go on a two-year foreign mission for his church, then go to college, perhaps Brigham Young University. He'd like to become an electrical engineer.

He looks back on his Eagle Scout project with pride, glad that he was able to help the community.

Despite his work on behalf of horseshooe players, he said he has only played horseshoes a few times.

"I'm not very good at it," he said.