(Editor’s Note: The following article was submitted by Julie Johnson.)

Jakob Johnson of Becker began his Eagle Scout Project back in March of 2021 when he sat down with Josh Kuha with the City of Becker Parks and Recreation to discuss possible ideas about adding features to the Becker City Dog Park to make it more inviting, appealing and exciting to dogs and their families.

To earn the rank of Eagle, a scout must earn 21 merit badges as well as demonstrate leadership, including successfully planning and completing a community service project.  For his service project, Jakob led his troop in building two stick libraries and two dog walks for the Becker dog park. As the project manager, he had to come up with the ideas, design the pieces, manage a budget, interact with members of the community, gather the materials and supplies, consider safety measures, delegate tasks, facilitate the construction and install them. The completed pieces of equipment were delivered to the dog park in July. Jakob then had to complete his Board of Review in September. At the Board of Review, members decide if the scout has met the requirements to achieve the rank of Eagle. Lastly, on Sunday December 5th, Jakob’s Court of Honor, at which he officially received his Eagle merit badge and pin was held. Special recognition was given to Shooter Fredrickson and Country Lumber for donating the wood for the project, also recognized was John Reibel with Becker True Value for donating the nails and stain and Josh Kuha for his guidance. Jakob presented the Eagle mentor pin to Jason Kardell as a way of honoring his efforts in assisting Jakob in reaching the Eagle Scout rank. Jakob is the son of Jamison and Julie Johnson, Becker, Grandson of Howard and JoAnn Johnson of Becker and Russell and Carol Kilgard of Foley.