Davey School receives new sign through Eagle Scout project

Hiram Cammon finished up his replacement of a 30-year-old sign outside Davey School as part of his Eagle Scout project earlier this week, a project with personal connections for him.

Cammon said his initial plan was to place a gazebo on the top of Mount Otis in the Bear Paw Moutains, but "that plan was instantly thrown out the window when I realized all the work loads and money that I would have to put into it."

He thought about redoing the gazebo at Pepin Park. However, he said he felt there was not enough of a personal affiliation there for him.

His attention turned to Davey School and the 30-year-old sign that was still there.

"So I'm like, 'I'm not just going to repaint that thing, I'm going to totally replace it.'"

Cammon said when he went to ask for the school's permission to remake the sign they not only agreed, but they also asked him to redo the exit sign as well.

"I am really proud of Hiram and what he has accomplished, both as an Eagle Scout and as a former student of Davey School," head teacher at Davey School Sandi Bitterman said. "He has been a great role model, showing our younger students what is possible if you put your mind to it, get a team together and are willing to do some hard work.

"He went above and beyond what we asked him to do and made sure everything was executed with excellence and is something that will really last," she said. "I want to thank him and his team for the many hours of hard work and planning that went into this. I couldn't be happier."

Cammon attended grade school at Davey when Dennie Barnekoff was teaching.

Traditionally, Scouts go around to local businesses and pitch their ideas to receive funds for their Eagle projects, Cammon said. He did something different.

"I instead decided to do a car wash," Cammon said. "So I could both, give back to my community and get more people in on my project."

Cammon held a car wash for a single Saturday and had about 30 people come assist him. He said his total for that day was about $1,000.

He presented Davey School Monday with the money that was not used for the project. Cammon said they had $341.17 left over.

The project took four months to complete, Cammon said. He started in May and finished the project in September. The final piece of the project was a tether ball pole which was put in on Sept. 15.

The total number of people who helped with the project was 38.

The toughest part of the project, he said, was the tether ball poll.

"We quickly realized that there was about 600 pounds of concrete on it," Cammon said.

In order to get around this issue, a member of his team who works for Triangle Mobile, Conrad Heimbigner, knew his company had a mini-excavator.

"That thing just helped finish our project," Cammon said.

"This wasn't just my project," Cammon added. "This was everyone that helped me. I may have been the head, I may have been the planning, but I did not do it all myself. I did not provide a majority of the work. I do not deserve all the credit."

Cammon said he would like to thank Tim Hagen, Scout Master Conrad Heimbigner, the Klein family and his father, State Farm Agent Anthony Cammon, for allowing him to use his parking lot for the car wash.