Earning the Boy Scouts of America’s highest possible rank is quite an impressive achievement.

Creating something that the community will use and cherish for generations is equally as laudable.

Achieving both, as Dowagiac’s Chris Symonds has managed to do, is something else entirely.

On Tuesday, the recent Dowagiac Union High School graduate, joined by his family, local officials and others in the community, unveiled his Eagle Scout project: an entrance sign for the trail system inside Rudolphi Woods, located on Dailey Road. Symonds has worked on the project over the past year, and has worked with many people throughout Dowagiac to create the sign.

The new landmark gives visitors to the local park a wealth of information, including on the length and shape of the trails running through the woods, the different species of wildflowers growing on the property and a brief history of Arthur Rudolphi, the famed Dowagiac businessman the park is named for.

Symonds, a member of St. Joseph’s Troop 624 who has been active in scouting since he was 8 years old, decided to create the sign for his capstone community service project, which is one of the last steps Boy Scouts need in order to reach the rank of Eagle. He had heard about the city’s interest in creating a sign for Rudolphi from his father, Robert, one of the owners of Symonds Machine Co. in Dowagiac.

“I knew it would be a great experience, as I had never done something like this before,” Chris said. “Not only would I have to learn how to map out something, but I also needed to communicate professionally with businesses, the college and other places throughout the community.”

Symonds’ first order of business was to map out the entire trail system, a task he had no idea how to tackle, he said. However, in a stroke of luck, one of his friends was enrolled in a geography class at SMC, and had a handheld satellite GPS unit he could use to gather all the data he needed to measure out the shape and distance of the paths, which he superimposed upon an aerial image of the woods from Google images, Symonds said.

Working with Dowagiac City Manager Kevin Anderson, Anderson’s secretary Bobbie Jo Hartline, and Dowagiac Area History Museum Director Steve Arseneau, Symonds compiled the additional information he needed for the sign. He also reached out to Judd Lumber Company, which donated materials for the project, as well as Creative Vinyl Signs, which helped him design and print the sign.

After more than a year of work, Symonds picked up and installed the finished piece late last month, he said.

“This is great, on a lot of levels,” said Mayor Don Lyons, who attended Tuesday’s dedication ceremony. “This park needs this. It needs the exposure that is going to come with this to reconstitute itself. The park was devastated by a tornado a few years ago, so perhaps this will be the beginning of its turnaround.”

Lyons, himself a former Boy Scout, also praised Symonds for his dedication toward scouting. Only around 5 percent of all scouts ever earn the rank of Eagle, and many who do find their experiences help propel them to high ranking leadership positions later in life.

The Dowagiac student, who graduated among the top 10 in his class last spring, will attend Lake Michigan College in the fall, he said. After receiving his associate’s degree in engineering, he plans on transferring to the University of Michigan, Purdue or Western Michigan University, and hopes to use his education to get a job in aeronautical engineering.

Symonds said what he appreciates most about his years in Boy Scouts were the lessons it taught him in leadership and character building. He also was glad all the opportunities he had to give back to the community, which culminated in his Eagle Scout project.

“Knowing that I contributed something to the community that isn’t temporary, but will be here for years to come, is amazing,” Symonds said. “It will be really cool to come back and see it at some point in the future.”