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Theron Egg Standing with Daniel Cole, Facilities
Coordinator for The Disney Nature Conservancy |
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Kristy (Mom) and Hannah (Sister) with Life Scout, Theron Egg
Standing in Front of Original Flag-pole, Now Upgraded! |
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| Life Scout Theron Egg III |
It was a hot and humid Florida afternoon in 2014 as BSA Life Scout (now Eagle Scout), Theron Egg and I arrived at the
Disney
Wilderness Preserve. Theron had set
up a meeting with Daniel Cole, Facilities Coordinator of the Nature Conservancy
to discuss placing a new and improved flag pole in front of the buildings on
which to proudly display the American Flag. This would be Theron’s Eagle Project,
the coup-de-grace of his Boy Scout career. (
Click Here to read about the
Geothermal HVAC System at TNC)
As a member of the
Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (known as the "Mormon Church"), Theron was encouraged to reach out into the community to find a need, and use his Eagle project to help in some way.
About
7% of registered Boy Scouts attain the rank of Eagle, the highest rank in the program. The timing was good, because prior to
Theron's contact with Daniel Cole, Daniel had been commenting that they needed
to upgrade the pole that had stood for 20 years to something more taller and more robust.
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| Disney's Wilderness Preserve |
In the early 1990’s, the Nature Conservancy, the State of
Florida, and a number of other groups got behind efforts of the Walt Disney
Company which purchased the property to mitigate its expansion and transferred
it to the Conservancy to create a nature preserve dedicated to wetlands
restoration on an unprecedented scale. The transfer also helped mitigate future
impacts associated with the development of Walt Disney World. The Walt Disney
Company provided funds for restoration and wildlife monitoring on the property
and continues to partner on a number of on-site projects.
Today, The Nature Conservancy’s 11,500-acre Disney
Wilderness Preserve near Kissimmee stands as a testament not only to Disney’s
conservation efforts, but to the power of cooperation, perseverance and
innovative thinking. Perhaps most significantly, the preserve has become
a
national
model for sustainable development and state-of-the-art conservation
management.
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Theron Egg Answers Questions About
the Proposed Flagpole Eagle Project |
Daniel took the time to explain to Theron why it was that a
taller (15' taller, and hurricane rated) flag pole would help in their efforts on the property. “Eleven-
thousand-plus acres are a large area, and it’s easy to get lost out here. A prominent flag pole will not only help us
to keep our bearings, but the waving of the flag will keep us posted on wind
direction, which is vitally important for many of our fire control efforts
among other uses”, said Daniel.
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| A Beautiful New Flag-Pole and a Tribute to Great Leaders |
Theron raised the funds for the new flagpole and associated
construction costs from generous offering in the community. Thank you for your help toward this worthy cause for the Nature Preserve, for the Boy Scouts of America, and
for a future leader, Theron Egg.
Theron
is honoring the memory of Jim White by placing a plaque at the foot of the completed flagpole. A Dedication ceremony will be in held in April, 2015 during
Earth Month. We invite all to join us in
the wonderful occasion.
Theron Jay Egg III is a 14 year old Life Scout with Troop 38,
the youngest of 6 children. He is a freshman at Celebration High School. He can be
reached at jayegg.geo@gmail.com.
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