The Red Oak Residence of North Bend, a senior housing development, got its first new sign since 1997, thanks to the hard work of local Mount Si High School senior, Cameron Stone.

Stone, a Scout for six years, came up with the idea of building a new sign for Red Oak as part of his community service project to earn his Eagle award. He approached the organization in January with his idea. He had heard the sign was in bad shape and thought he would be able to help.

“They said their new sign was rotting, it was right around the time I was looking for an Eagle project to do,” Stone said.

Stone said that before he turned 18, he needed to do a culminating project to earn the rank of Eagle.

“I’ve been a Scout since I was 11,” he said. “The final thing you have to do to complete everything is an Eagle project, the culminating project. You have to build something that benefits your community… The project is the last requirement, after that I had to submit an Eagle rank application to the Puget Sound Scouting organization. I’m waiting to hear back and then I will be officially complete.”

After contacting Red Oak Residence and getting permission to build a new sign, Stone began raising money for the materials by creating a gofundme fundraiser and promoting it through friends and family. He raised $655 for his project and received material donations from North Bend businesses Chinook Lumber and North Bend Materials.

Red Oak Residence also helped Stone’s project along by offering to pay the building permit application fee to the city of North Bend.

“I created a gofundme and sent it to family and friends and got little bits at a time,” he said. “I went around to vendors in the Valley and North Bend to ask if they would donate material. Chinook Lumber, (is) where I got most of the materials. North Bend Materials donated the dirt in the planter bed. Once I got all the materials set up, it was time to construct.”

Crafting the sign was one of the most extensive projects to come out of his troop, Stone said. He had to build a planter bed to fill with dirt, cut out and paint the lettering, as well as paint and construct the sign.

When all the steps had been completed Stone constructed the sign at his house, tore it down, and rebuilt it when installing it at Red Oak Residence.

On Sept. 11, Stone and his Scout troop installed the sign at Red Oak Residence.

“We had about 15 people,” Stone said. “It was awesome, but the problem was we were working in such a small area that not many bodies can get in there and help at one time. In return, I will go help them on their Eagle projects. We just help each other out.”

Chuck Beatty, assistant administrator of Red Oak Residence, was happy to promote community involvement and with the new sign itself.

“The old one was there from the get-go, from 1997,” he said. “It’s been redone a couple of times when it got warped, but this is a definite improvement and a neat thing to feel the community involvement”

For Stone, this project helped build his confidence in his leadership skills as well as time management. Because fundraising took longer than expected, he had to manage his time efficiently to finish the project.

“The big takeaway is I was better about time management and leadership,” he said. “Going into it I was kind of hesitant. Crunch time was getting close, but I wrapped everything up and got it done.”