August 3, 2006

Troop 200 Scout Josh La Plante soars with Eagle
project to improve Almaden postal branch

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

Troop 200’s Josh La Plante earned his Eagle Scout rank, and the formerly run-down looking Almaden Valley Post Office now looks like California park land, thanks to La Plante’s recently completed Eagle Scout project.

Troop 200 Scouts surround leader La Plante on the West end at the Almaden Post Office branch. They completed the project throughout July in under 24 hours. Photos by Justin Petersen

LaPlante and an energetic team of 20-plus volunteers that he enlisted for his Eagle Scout project logged the final hours Sunday to complete the 15-year-old Leland football player’s pinnacle scouting task. They irrigated and landscaped the barren, grimy knoll facing the post office, and to the sides, in approximately 24 hours, spread throughout July.

The crew celebrated with a trip to 7-11 and pool party at LaPlante’s parents’ place.

“It went really well,” said LaPlante. “We finished before schedule.” Several generous local organizations, including the Almaden Valley Community Association, Earthtech landscaping services and DuBridge Design aided La Plante’s swift success. They donated time, money and supplies, while La Plante conceived the idea, drew up plans, and pursued clearance from postal authorities.

Thanks to postal prohibitions, however, it took more than a year to approve the project. While the Almaden site had deteriorated to the point of nuisance according to residents who referenced the sore on Crown Boulevard, union workers within the organization claimed that the clean-up job was theirs to keep.

“I thought we could go over and plant a couple of trees or something like that, make it look nicer,” said La Plante. It started when La Plante approached post office manager Charlie Barbiaz. “Mr. Barbiaz said lately customers had been asking to do it themselves, that he liked Eagle Scouts and that this was a great idea,” said La Plante. The wait came while Barbiaz worked to convince his superiors.

“Josh took on a very aggressive project,” said Jon Mockabee, Earthtech president, who donated labor and resources toward the project and free of charge. “It was a much more aggressive task than a normal Eagle Scout would take on.”

La Plante estimated that total donations reached approximately $3,000 prior to breaking ground. Another $600, however, rolled in during the final weekend while postal customers observed the efforts and offered to contribute. “We didn’t even think to have donation boxes out until half way through the first day,” said La Plante. “We were actually able to reorder more stuff with all of donations we received.”

La Plante said a portion of the last-minute collections was awarded to his troop-mate David Hoyt, who is scheduled to begin his own Eagle project later this year.

“I am a strong supporter of Eagle Scouts and what they represent,” said Mockabee, noting that many Fortune 500 executives do, in fact, claim Eagle Scout rank. “They are the future leaders of tomorrow.”

The troop worked to remove dead tress and bushes, which they replaced with flowers. They also implemented an irrigation system to sustain the new look and caked the rolling terrain with soft tanbark. “[We intended to leave] plants that can survive without much water,” said La Plante. “We also put down a good ground cover to keep the moisture in and the weeds out.”

La Plante described this project as the grandest he’d ever attempted in the yard. “I had done some gardening, but nothing too big,” he said. “There is a lot of hard work in the process.” La Plante said his favorite part was operating the chainsaw. “We used it for demolition on Juniper bushes and tree stumps.”

It all started with a need—and weeds.

“You weren’t sure whether the post office was closed down, or what, it had been neglected so badly,” said Mockabee. “Josh is just a normal high school kid. He approached me and asked to borrow shovels, but the more we heard, the more everybody wanted to help him out and work on the project.”