WOODS CROSS —More than two years ago, Boy Scout Tom Smith set his sights high for his Eagle project — raising money to erect a 17-foot high monument commemorating 100 years of Scouting in the United States.

That day is Monday, Feb. 8, and the monument will be set in Hogan Park at 1500 South and 800 West at 9 a.m. Unlimited Design Inc., will do the honors A dedication will be held at a later date.

Smith still has to raise $5,000 for the monument, and an additional $3,000 for a plaque listing contributors, but the young man has made a lot of progress.

The monument commemorates the day that William Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America in 1910.

The monument is the realization of Tom Smith’s Eagle project, which he started in November 2007 at the age of 14.

He not only wanted to commemorate Scouting’s anniversary, but to inspire all boys to be good outstanding and upright citizens by living the principles of the Scout oath, law, motto and slogan, according to his father Ron Smith.

He said the monument is the most ambitious effort to memorialize the Scouting movement in the world. It will stand approximately 17 feet high and feature a 7 foot high bronze sculpture of a Boy Scout peering off a climb atop an 8 foot monolithic pedestal. A stepped platform will support the entire structure.

The bronze sculpture is the creation of Utah sculptor Stanley J. Watts who used as his inspiration a 1908 sketch by Scouting’s founder Robert Baden Powell.

The sculpture was finished in time to be on display at the city’s 2009 Memorial Day commemoration.

Other works of the sculptor can be seen on http://www.atlasbronzecasting.com. The monolithic pedestal was created by Unlimited Designs, Inc., and was patterned after Norman Rockwell’s painting The Scout Oath.

Engraved on three sides of the pedestal will be the Scout oath, law, and motto and slogan. The fourth side will contain a bronze plaque acknowledging contributors who donated $500 or more, as well as the sculptor, craftsmen, designers and architect.

Contributions are still being accepted in the Woods Cross Scout Monument Fund at any Utah First Credit Union.

mwilliams@davisclipper.com