O'Dea senior putting up Madison Valley bulletin board

Miles Krauter and the rest of Boy Scout Troop 186 in Laurelhurst spend a lot of time working on community service projects in Seattle’s north end.

When it was time for the O’Dea High School senior to craft a project to earn the highest rank of Eagle Scout, Krauter turned to the Madison Valley Community Council for ideas.

“I live in the area, so I thought it would be more helpful to do something here,” he said.

MVCC president Penelope Karovsky proposed Krauter construct a new bulletin board for the neighborhood.

“I worked on it at a shop nearby,” Krauter said. “There’s a woodworking shop up the hill.”

The community council wanted to put it up in the triangular right-of-way at East Madison Street and 28th Avenue East, but SDOT would have charged more than $300 per year to use the space.

Krauter received permission from Michael Schattenkerk, facility operations manager at Bailey-Boushay House, to instead erect the new bulletin board in a small garden space fronting the sidewalk along East Madison.

“He said this would be a fine spot, as long as I don’t hit any water lines,” said the prospective Eagle Scout, who began installing his project on Friday, March 16.

Helping Krauter with his project was a friend from Garfield High School and his father, David Krauter, who put his youngest son in Cub Scouts when he was seven.

“The good thing about our troop is it’s truly scout led,” David Krauter said, adding there are 80 scouts in Troop 186, and Miles will soon be one of 14 Eagle Scouts. “I think the reason we keep scouts as long as we do is that they really understand that it’s their organization.”

Krauter said he’s been building projects all his life, and he too wants to be an engineer. He’s leaning toward studying at Cal Poly after graduation, he said, adding he’d like to come back to Seattle afterward.

While building the bulletin board took about a day, the project is far more technical when it comes to satisfying the Eagle Board. Krauter said he had to put together a proposal, get it approved, and after the project is finished he has to send in a final summary, including costs and funding.

Dunn Lumber gives scouts a 10-percent discount, he said, and the Madison Valley Community Council is helping him recover his costs.

MVCC treasurer Cherie Sato stopped by on Friday to watch Krauter work. She said board members are chipping in to cover costs, and also collecting donations for the project.

“This is really generous of Miles, but also really generous of Bailey-Boushay,” Sato said.

The bulletin board case is lockable, and the MVCC and Bailey-Boushay House will each have their own keys.

“I got to meet Miles when he was installing the bulletin board and I was impressed with his passion,” writes Bailey-Boushay executive director Brian Knowles. “I think in our busy electronic times it is wonderful to go back to basics and have a community bulletin board. Bailey-Boushay House is very happy to support Miles and our neighborhood.”

Krauter hopes to go before the Eagle Board within a month of completing his project.