Matt's Eagle Project

On Saturday we did the last Eagle Project for my brothers! They will all be Eagle Scouts once Matt has finished the paperwork. It's amazing to think that they have all accomplished this goal and that I have been able to be a part of them all.

Matt's Eagle Project was great for him and right up his alley. He got a bunch of bikes from the Developmental Center in American Fork that had mostly been donated and fixed them up. We fixed holes in tubes, adjusted brakes and all other sorts of things to get these bikes back in working condition. There were a TON of bikes that we got and most were not worth fixing or would cost more than we had to fix so we used those for parts for other bikes. There were quite a few scouts that showed up in the morning and only a few in the afternoon, but all in all we were able to pump out over 50 bikes to be delivered to functioning mentally and physically handicapped people in the area. The center was thrilled to hear about all the bikes that were able to be fixed and we know that the people will greatly appreciate them to gain some independence and mobility. The Developmental Center told Matt that this was a very needed service and they were so excited that this was the project he chose.

Matt, my dad, David, and some of Matt's friends all started at 8am with people straggling in at different times. We were done at about 3pm. We were not able to get to all the bikes but everyone was really tired by the end of the day and Matt had well over 100 hours for the project so we decided to just stop there and not do another Saturday. I was so beat by the end of the day even though no one would let me do anything. I basically walked around, took picutres, made sure everything was going well, picked up lunch and talked with everyone. Even though it didn't seem like much to me, my feet hurt so bad by the end of the day that I could hardly walk. My tummy has grown a lot in the past 2 weeks and I forget that it's like a workout to stand for long periods of time or walk for a while. But it was all worth it to be there!

Here is one view of the bikes. We did it all at my dad's shop which was really handy with the tools and automatic air pumps.

Matt hard at work changing tubes.


Kevin, Matt's friend, showing his "good side".


The cutest guy there!!!!


Dave was in charge of some of the more complicated repairs on the bikes while most of the boys changed tubes and fixed holes in the tubes. Matt and a couple of his friends who knew a little more about bikes than the rest of the scouts did some of the smaller repairs.


This was the only thing they let me do all day, man the refreshment stand! I was sad I couldn't be down in the nitty gritty with the boys changing tubes and tires and such.

They even let my mom help out. She washed some of the bikes.


And what would an Eagle Project be without a little fun. This is one of the tubes that they blew up, just so some of the boys could see it happen.


And this is the green gunk that came out of the tube when my dad blew it up!


Of course they also had to test out the bikes!


The completed bikes all lined up waiting to be loaded.


Dave loading up the fixed bikes on one of the trailers.


And now the loading of the unfixable bikes on the other trailer.


Both trailers are ready to go!