St. Ben's Proud!

Tom & Chris Hartman (Click on photo for larger image)

A sign is a little thing, really--some pieces of stone or wood.  But for supporters of St. Benedict School in Decorah, a new sign in front of the school this fall is a reason to puff out their chests a little more and talk about how proud they are of the school.

The sign is the work of Chris Hartman, who is a Decorah High School student now, but was in St. Benedict's first pre-school class and spent eleven years in all in the school.  "I've always wanted to help out the school," Chris tells decorahnews.com.

So when Chris decided he wanted to prusue earning Eagle Scout status, he knew which project he wanted to tackle--an official sign for the school.  He and his father, Tom, met with Brian Peterson at Letterwerks to come up with a sign design.  Troop 66 Assistant Scoutmaster Loren Neuzil donated bricks and helped teach masonry skills.

After school started this fall at St. Benedict's, friends and fellow Boy Scouts volunteered to do the work of creating the sign.  Work on the sign got finished in October.  "It was a big accomplishment," says Chris.

It was also a big hit.  Chris' father, Tom, says they've gotten a lot of compliments about the sign.  And St. Ben's Principal Steve Haluska says the sign project "is an excellent display of what we are looking for in our yout today."