Ollendieck builds Kessel Park dugouts

—Future Eagle Scout finishes project, working on merit badges
CRESCO - Robby Ollendieck is a Boy Scout. He also loves baseball. (He actually loves all sports – he competes in four of them!) So when time came to choose a service project to plan, develop and lead in order to earn the rank of Eagle Scout in Boy Scout Troop 261, the choice was a natural one.
“I’ve always liked baseball,” Ollendieck said. “I love doing it. And I knew that park up there [Kessel Park] didn’t really have any dugouts or anything. At the time, they were getting the new fences and the scoreboard, so I came up with the idea of hey, let’s build some dugouts, so they can use it.”
Ollendieck, the son of Phil and Kim Ollendieck, has been involved with Scouting since the first grade, when the scouts first came to school to talk to students about joining. First as a Cub Scout, then later as a Boy Scout, he has progressed through the ranks to the precipice of Eagle Scout, the highest rank in Boy Scouts and one that requires the applicant to earn a minimum of 21 merit badges and complete an “Eagle Project” that has been approved by his troop leadership.
Once Ollendieck settled on the Kessel Park baseball dugouts as his Eagle Project, the real work began. 
First, he approved the project through Bill Caffrey and Rick McCarville of the Cresco Park Board, then helped write a Howard County Community Foundation grant to fund the project. When the grant fell a little short of the full amount required, he secured additional funding from Al and Karen Voyna to fill the gap. Next, he lined up a number of contractors to do the work of digging out the sod and pouring cement for the dugouts’ foundations …
And that’s where the monkey wrench hit the works.
The project began in August of 2021, and in September, Ollendieck broke his leg playing football for the Crestwood Cadets. That is not how the plan was supposed to unfold.
Undaunted, Ollendieck returned to the project as soon as he’d recovered from surgery required to fix his femur. He was still on crutches when they began building the dugouts on their new foundations, but several friends jumped in to help, including Mason Vrba, Ethin Matt, Parker Rice and Sam Brace. 
After Mehmert Tiling did the dirt work and Cresco Building Service poured the cement, Marty Rice of Bulldawg Construction came in to help put the actual dugouts together. They ordered benches online and put them together in Ollendieck’s garage, then Patty Schrage of Signs and Designs helped them make signs saying what the project was and who had participated.
The project was finished in November 2021. 
Ollendieck still has four merit badges to earn and a board review for his Eagle Project — something he plans to have wrapped up by the end of 2022.
Looking back on his time in scouting, Ollendieck said his favorite things were, “hanging out with the other people, going to camp and doing fun activities with the boys and meeting new people.”  
“There’s a lot of useful things that I’ve learned through it,” he added. “Different resources and skills. Some of the work is kind of tough, but I guess it just makes you an overall better person in the end.”
Robby’s mother, Kim, noted that scouting involves the whole family. “It’s kind of been a family affair,” she said. “Everybody gets involved.
“It’s a worthwhile journey that he’s been on, that we’ve all been on with him,” she added. “A lot of community involvement that they’ve been able to do. That in itself, just learning to work in the community and the communication with others. It’s been fun. A lot of work, but it will be rewarding in the future.”
Robby agrees. The eagle program, in specific, is quite an honor. “It’s a good thing to have,” he said, “I think it will help me in the future, with scholarships or jobs, down the road.”
Asked if he would recommend scouting to others, Robby said, “It’s definitely worth it. Scouting is a pretty fun thing. You get to meet new people. Learn new things. It’s a good thing to do.” 

Cresco Times

Phone: 563-547-3601
Fax: 563-547-4602

Address:
Cresco TPD
214 N. Elm Street
Cresco, IA 52136

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