The culmination of lessons learned through his years as a Scout, CHS 2024 graduate Dylan Zimmerman’s Eagle Scout project, completed in the spring of 2023, was renovating a fire pit at Camp Fa-Ho-Cha on German Lake.
Since Fa-Ho-Cha is situated on an island, getting materials and supplies on site was a challenge, but, following the Scout motto, Zimmerman was prepared.
The February before, he and his dad David Zimmerman hauled pavers, retaining wall blocks and sand over the ice and to the island using a trailer pulled by an Argo 8x8, an eight-wheel ATV, with tracks attached (above). They stored the materials in a shed at the camp for the next couple of months.
“With the project I learned that you have to plan everything out so things run smoothly, including thinking of scenarios of what can go wrong,” Zimmerman said.
About 500 feet from shore at its closest point, the 25-acre island is located about three quarters of a mile southeast of Beaver Dam. The Independent Order of Oddfellows (IOOF), a fraternal organization, owns the island and operates youth camps there each July while other organizations rent its facilities throughout the season.
Zimmerman got the idea for the project while talking to one of his dad’s friends, Gene Lewis, chairman of the camp.
“Gene said if I needed a project, there were multiple on the camp that needed to be completed. This project will help campers there have a safer and better campfire experience.”
After getting Lewis’ approval, Zimmerman also had to have his project signed off by the Scout Board and his Scoutmaster, Mary Klaseus. From there, he purchased materials, including blocks, sand and construction adhesive; and gathered tools and supplies, such as shovels, a mallet, a dirt packer, a leveler, an angle grinder, stakes, tape measures, string and spray paint.
He also needed to buy food, hotdogs, chips, water and soft drinks, to feed his crew: his dad, Scoutmaster Klaseus and her husband Nick Klaseus, a Scout Board member; his friends, including classmates Amelia Haack, Carter Barto, Brady Bostic, Jackson Rysdam and Adam Seeman; senior Jackson Bowen and eighth grader August Keltgen, Jacob Rohlfing (CHS 2023); and other adults, Troy Bowen, Andy Rohlfing, Scott Vanoverbeke, Lewis and all the chairmen at camp Fa-Ho-Cha.
“Managing a group of people can be a hard thing to do,” Zimmerman said, “especially if they are your friends. However, if you can keep everyone on task, you can decrease the number of errors and time on the project.”
Steps of the project
First, the group prepared the jobsite by removing the existing metal fire ring and ashes and clearing the area to make it safe to work. Next, they marked off the area that would get the paver blocks using the string tied to a stake in the center and a spray paint can on the other end for a perfect 12-foot diameter circle.
They dug out the dirt in the circle with shovels and carried it away in wheelbarrows. After leveling the area with a 2x4, they spread sand inside the dugout area, only adding enough sand for a row of pavers at a time. Starting from one side and working to the other making sure the sand stayed in place, they set the pavers in rows into the circle, so they were even with the ground. They tapped pavers with a mallet or added more sand if necessary to get a level grade. For pavers that needed to be cut, they used a Sawzall or circular saw.
From there, they put the fire ring back onto the pavers and removed pavers on its inside, cutting off corners that were sticking into the ring. They filled gaps between the pavers and the ring with sand. They stacked retaining wall blocks around the ring and secured them with construction adhesive.
Building the fire pit took Zimerman and company nine hours over two days. With paperwork included, all told, the job required 149 labor hours.
“With the project I learned that you have to plan everything out so things run smoothly, including thinking of scenarios of what can go wrong,” Zimmerman said.
Zimmerman’s Eagle Scout ceremony was on April 7, 2024 at The Church of Christ in Cleveland. He will be a student at Gustavus Adolphus College this fall.
About Fa-Ho-Cha and the Odd Fellows
The Minnesota Odd Fellow Youth Camp, Fa-Ho-Cha— a portmanteau of “Faith, Hope and Charity”—was established in 1958 through the benevolence of C. W. Brandt of Mankato, who had the vision of providing a camp for youth. It has eight A-frame cabins. Electricity arrived in 1988. There are men and women showers and bathrooms constructed in 1996. The 40-foot x 64-foot recreation hall also serves as the kitchen area. A two-story A-frame used by staff was completed in 2003. The most recent undertaking was the two-story counselor cabin.
The last two full weeks in July are scheduled for boys and girls camps, respectively. Campers are sponsored typically by a Minnesota Odd Fellow or Rebekah lodge. At other times the camp is rented to various groups such as Scouts, church groups and families.
The IOOF is a non-political, non-sectarian international fraternal order that promotes philanthropy, the ethic of reciprocity and charity. Evolving from the Order of Odd Fellows founded in England during the 18th century, it was founded in the US in 1819.
Photos courtesy of Dylan Zimmerman.
