Story Published: Dec 12, 2009 at 4:56 PM MDT
Story Updated: Dec 13, 2009 at 6:17 PM MDT
About two dozen people braved the snowy weather Saturday morning with chain saws and gloves to cut up lots of firewood.
They came with saws, axes, and wood splitters to help turn trees into something local families can use throughout the winter.
Each one was selected by the Southeast Idaho Community Action Agency, because they use firewood as their primary source of heating. Doyle Petersen, Troop 385 Scoutmaster said, "This is awesome. This is what an Eagle Project is designed to be; a lot of involvement, a lot of people helping out, providing good service for the community."
Dmitri Hill, the young man working on his Eagle Scout Award, was a little nervous things weren't going to work out because of the weather.
But within a half an hour things were rolling along smoothly. Dmitri Hill, who organized the Eagle Project said, "It makes me feel really good to help someone out so they can heat their home this winter, and just to help out in general."
Altogether he expects to cut up between 10 and 15 cords of wood. "Which is about 20 to 25 truckloads," explained Hill.
The idea for the project actually started when one of these trees fell and damaged Dmitri's truck. Hill said, "I just said, 'Hey, that would be a good eagle project.' So we chopped them down."
But the families who get the firewood aren't the only people who will see a benefit from this project. Petersen said, "This kind of involves a little bit of everything; the culmination of leadership, and involvement. it's a great thing for these boys."
And Petersen hopes those are values they will carry with them throughout their life.
Dmitri delivered wood to several different families in Pocatello and McCammon.