MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – What do you get when you put together a Boy Scout from Santa Rosa, a sign company from Forestville, and volunteers and donors from around the North Coast?
The answer: A new welcome sign for Middletown.
On Saturday, Boy Scout Jordan Gurries – accompanied by his grandfather Rick Gurries, members and leaders of his scouting troop, Erik Paul of Insight Signs and Graphics and staff of Pacific States Environmental – led the effort to install the new sign at the northern end of town.
It replaces one of two “Welcome to Middletown” signs that had been burned by the Valley fire in September.
The sign is 10 feet wide by 7 feet tall, the same size as its predecessor, but has a different design that was created by Jordan Gurries and his team and approved by the Middletown Rotary.
The new design includes dimensional black lettering and a purple horse representing Middletown High School's mustang mascot. There also is an additional post with hooks so temporary banners can be hung on it.
It's in place just in time to welcome the visitors expected to make their way to Lake County for the summer season.
“It just shows great community spirit,” said Middletown Rotary President Ron Roberts.
As the community continues to recover from the fire, Roberts said he believes the new sign helps with morale.
The effort to create the new sign started in October.
Gurries, 16, is a sophomore at Santa Rosa High School and an Eagle Scout candidate who has relatives in Lake County.
He was considering a community service project – required as part of the process of becoming an Eagle Scout – when he began thinking of helping replace the damaged Middletown entry signs.
“I thought this would be a good idea for a project and it would really help a town out,” he said, explaining, “It might bring a little pride back to them.”
He added, “I knew it was going to be big, and I knew it was going to take some time.”
Building projects aren't new to the teen. His interests include automotive, welding and woodworking, and he and grandfather Rick build wooden boats together. “We like to do hands-on stuff and stay busy.”
So it was natural for the two to want to work side-by-side on the sign project.
Rick Gurries said they reached out to the Middletown Rotary to ask about replacing the signs.
Roberts said Jordan Gurries came to one of the organization's meetings to propose the sign replacement.
“We thought it was a wonderful project,” said Roberts, adding that the Rotary agreed to support it.
It was at that point that they found there was interest from another part of the North Coast – from Bonnie Hill and Erik Paul, the husband-and-wife team that own Insight Signs and Graphics of Forestville and who are former Lake County residents.
The Middletown Rotary put them in contact with Gurries, which gave birth to a new collaboration.
Hill said Gurries “asked us if we would be willing to work with him and guide him through the
process, we said yes and now Middletown has a sign!”
She added, “We were really happy to be able to connect with him and mentor him.”
Gurries ultimately was the project manager, finding himself heading up a team of many individuals and organizations that wanted to pitch in to help.
Hill said the total sign cost – including labor, design time and supplies to manufacture and install it – is estimated at $5,500.
That cost was covered completely through donations, she said.
“There was absolutely no cost to the community or Rotary up there,” added Rick Gurries. “It was all donated – all the labor and all the materials.”
Taking on a big project
As the effort started, Rick Gurries said he assisted his grandson with getting the permits for the sign.
His grandson's Eagle Scout project eventually would turn out to be larger than anticipated. “Some of them are more involved than others, this being one of them,” he laughed.
He said that, originally, the plan had been to replace both of the damaged Middletown signs. “We ran into a snag on the south one,” he said.
That's because the sign location was within the Caltrans easement, which was going to require 60 to 90 days for permitting, he said.
The larger issue was one of safety – with the boys not being able to work next the road, he explained.
As a result, Gurries said they dropped plans to pursue a sign on the southern end of town and instead focused on the sign at the north end.
The new sign sits on land that is private property, said Roberts, adding that Rotary has issued to the landowner an assurance that the organization will maintain the sign.
Separately he said an individual is working to get the permits to place a new sign at the south end of town.
As for the design, it was the result of Jordan Gurries and his team brainstorming.
“We didn’t really have any clue of what the old sign looked like,” he said, adding that the only picture they found was one of the sign on fire, and he didn't think that was a good starting point.
So they started fresh, coming up with the new design, getting approval and working on permits.
Gurries said there also were a number of meetings, and a visit to the sign sites.
On May 1 it was time to get to work on cutting out the sign, painting the posts and the sign backing, all of which was completed in one day, he said.
Then he said they needed to wait for the right time to install it, hoping to get it done ahead of summer due to the scouts' different commitments and scheduling.
The day arrived on Saturday, and even though there were concerns about the possibility of rain and thunderstorms, Hill said the work was going on, rain or shine.
Rick Gurries said they got to the site at around 8:30 a.m. and went prepared for rain, with seven pop up covers on hand.
“It was threatening rain pretty much all day long, but for some reason it held off just for us,” he said.
When they wrapped up shortly before 4 p.m., “It was just starting to trickle when we were leaving, so we really lucked out,” he said.
Gurries said there were “a lot of really great people helping out.” He estimated there were around 20 people on site for the work. In addition to him and his grandson, there were several Scouts, scoutmasters and assistant scoutmasters.
Also assisting were staffers from Pacific States Environmental, the contractor who has been working with CalRecycle on Valley fire cleanup. Gurries said Pacific States had found out about the project and reached out to offer help.
He said Pacific States helped get more concrete for the project and brought more water. “They were just super.”
There are a few items of paperwork relating to permits to finish, and the Rotary Club and other local organizations need to hang up their signs on the sign post, but other than that, Jordan Gurries said the sign is complete.
He thanked Hill and Paul, his grandfather, his scout troop and all of the many businesses and organizations that supported the project, which he said has led to a lot of people thanking him.
In addition to Jordan Gurries, his grandparents Rick and Laurie Gurries of Cloverdale, and Hill and Paul of Insight Signs and Graphics, the following businesses, organizations and individuals contributed to the effort: Boy Scouts of America Redwood Empire Council Troop 121, N. Glantz and Sons Signs Supply of Sacramento, Jim Sackman Focal Point Business Coaching of Santa Rosa, Aaction Rents of Healdsburg, Barnes Lumber of Cloverdale, Charley Carpenter, Cloverdale Mini Storage, Hardester's Market of Middletown, Layne Paving & Trucking of Clearlake, Kevin Moore, Ray's Custom Wood Working, Richard Thomas Sr., Pacific States Environmental Contractors Inc. and the Sonoma County Gazette.
As for Jordan Gurries' Eagle Scout candidacy, he still has some final steps in the process, but if all goes well, he said he could be approved late in the summer.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
