COMMUNITY SUBMISSION
Stuart Thalmann is a Freshman at Appleton West High School and a member of Scout Troop 73 based at First English Lutheran Church in Appleton. Stuart has been associated with scouting since joining Cub Scouts in 2018 and worked hard on his Eagle Scout Service Project this past summer. Part of achieving full Eagle Scout status requires the completion of an Eagle Scout Service Project and earning at least 21 merit badges. Stuart is well on his way to reaching this goal and has just two merit badges to go. He hopes to be completed before February 2026.
Stuart is a musician and started playing the French horn in 2021 while still at Houdini Elementary School. On graduating to Einstein Middle School and taking Band studies, his musical journey expanded to include the trumpet and, once he graduated to West High School and joined the West High School Band, he now plays the mellophone as well!
Wanting to combine his love of music and scouting when searching for an idea for his Eagle Scout Service Project, Stuart asked Mrs. Stacy Juhl, Einstein Band Director, if she had any suggestions. Her answer was to refurbish all 60 music stands or create storage racks for the school’s three, much treasured tubas to prevent them being damaged while in storage.
After some careful research into music stand restoration and intensive YouTube viewing of tuba storage systems supplied by Mrs. Juhl, Stuart said he could accomplish both projects. Consequently, he devised a plan and scheduled a group of ten fellow scout friends to assist him with the refurbishing project. Over two weekend four-hour sessions Stuart organized small groups of scouts to clean, hammer out dents and then spray paint all the stands. The projects were conducted outdoors, and all participants were suitably dressed and wearing appropriate masks. The final touch was adding the Einstein School Mascot to each stand.
To complete the tuba stands Stuart worked with his father and together they cut, routed and created three sturdy wooden tuba racks that were installed in the Einstein Band room, much to the delight of Mrs. Juhl. The complete project was funded, in part, by Thrivent who donated a gift certificate that Stuart used to cover the cost of supplies.
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