A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 72F. Winds light and variable..

A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 72F. Winds light and variable.

Austin Rickert’s Eagle Scout project went to the dogs. And they couldn’t be more thankful for it. Some folks with the city of Azle embraced the gesture, too.

Rickert, a freshman at Azle High School, and fellow Boy Scouts made metal roofs for the dog runs at the Azle Animal Shelter. The roofing project covered eight kennels, and 8 X 32 was the size of the roof structure that was built. He and others completed the project nearly a month ago. Planning on the project began last fall. He belongs to Troop 175.

“It was a good cause, it was something I believed in,” Austin said, explaining how he selected the project. His love for dogs was a contributing factor in the project selection. 

He said he looked for something that could help people, and the animal shelter is something that benefits the community, which is a Scout requirement. The project couldn’t be something that benefited an individual private group, said Chad Rickert, Aaron’s father.

“It has to be a church or a park or like a nonprofit food bank type deal,” he said, noting the animal shelter fit the bill. He said he stopped by the shelter one day and asked about whether they had any needs, and from there, he took Austin to the shelter.

“(The roof) was the Holy Grail-type deal of their wish list, but they didn’t really think that that was something they thought would happen,” Chad said, noting the Scouts could make it happen, and the project took off from there.

Azle Police Lt. Bob Spohn was amazed that Austin and others could make the project come to fruition. The project had to receive approval from the scoutmaster and the city council and then Spohn. More approval was needed from the Scout troop’s district, and then sponsorships had to be acquired. Fundraisers, sponsorships or donations are required to finance the Eagle Scout projects, Chad said.  The project cost around $1,000.

Chad noted businesses contributed supplies and other components to the project, which was completed on April 30.

Being on the leader side of the project produced a certain discovery from the times he worked on other community projects, explaining advising the scoutmaster on the project was a “very really weird feeling,” Austin said.

The shelter was pleased with the roof.

“They said they haven’t had a shelter over those kennels in about a decade,” Austin said.

A storm took the roof off, Chad said.

“And they just haven’t had the budget to replace the roof,” he said. “It made it very seasonal that they could use it. They had told us at one time that they weren’t certified by the state for use because they weren’t covered.”

The scoutmaster signs off that the project was completed to satisfaction, Chad said.

Austin said he still has other aspects to finish for the Eagle Scout designation. He has two Eagle required merit badges left to complete; 21 merit badges are required for Eagle. After he completes those badges and turns in his entire Eagle Scout packet requirements to the council, he will go before a scout leadership board, who will evaluate the project and question Austin about it. After the board gives approval, an awards ceremony is held and Austin would receive the eagle designation.

Chad and his brother are Life Scouts who missed Eagle by a “small amount.” Chad belonged to Troop 175 as a boy. Austin’s grandfather and great-grandfather are Eagle Scouts.

“Hopefully, his grandfather will be the one to pin his Eagle on him,” Chad said, noting that pinning ceremony would be sentimental to Austin’s grandfather. Austin has been in Scouts since the first grade, belonging to the Cub Scouts when he started out.

Spohn lauded the Scouts who worked on the project, as he said the roof over the exterior runs had come down and was in “pretty sorry shape.”

“Not only did they replace the roofing but they actually rewelded some of the points, kind of improved some of the structure,” he said, adding a misting system was installed, too. He said how Austin and others were able to acquire donations and put the project together was “incredible.” They devised a schematic before they did the work, and the project was “extremely well planned out and organized,” Spohn said.

He was impressed with the leadership role that Austin took on the project, that his work contributed to a greater good, and that he said it was unusual to “find a servant leader in a young man like that.”

The boys were committed to the project.

“It’s refreshing to know that there are young men of character like that,” Spohn said about the Scouts. “They made a promise to us, (and) they kept it. It was really a blessing.”  

Jessie Williams, shelter supervisor at Azle Animal Control, said she appreciates the work Austin and the other Scouts put into the roof project. She said the work was done over three Saturdays.

“It was a huge blessing,” she said. “We have been in need for like 10 years. We haven’t been able to utilize that side of the building because we haven’t had the proper coverage for those cages, so it was just a huge blessing.”

Spohn said he thought the new roof could end up saving some animals’ lives. Williams said the roof will save lives, as the increase in the number of cages allows the shelter to hold animals longer in the intake buildings’ isolation kennels. Whereas before, she said, the shelter would have to put down dogs with treatable ailments to have space for the new dogs arriving. The now has 15 cages instead of seven.

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