Powell grad Gabriel Villalobos is one step closer to earning his Eagle Scout title now that his project, a drop box for flag disposal, has been installed in the Park County Law Enforcement Center in Cody.

The project has a family connection for Villalobos: His grandfather has been involved in flag disposal as a member of the color guard for the sheriff’s office and his father is a Cody police officer. 

Also, Villalobos’ uncle, a former wood shop teacher, drew up the initial plans for the box which Villalobos then modified. 

During construction Villalobos was supposed to be relatively hands off — his job was to lead about six of his fellow scouts through the roughly 36-hour-long construction process. He had been in leadership positions before but it was hard to be assertive, he said, especially when he was encouraged not to be hands-on with his project. 

“It's difficult because I'm almost the same age as them — I identify with them a lot,” Villalobos said. 

When the box was complete and installed at the law enforcement center it “felt like a long time coming. It felt really good, seeing the hard work me and my scouts and my adult supervisors [and] friends helped with,” he said.

Villalobos, who is currently a Life Scout, has had the coveted rank of Eagle Scout in his sights for several years. Now that the project is completed he has to turn his focus to filing a report and then completing a board of review, which is similar to a job interview.

“[It’s] a lot of honor, prestige, celebration. It’s been a long time coming, and if I did it, or when I do it, I think I'll be real proud of myself, and I hope that I can make my family proud, too,” Villalobos said.

But working on becoming an Eagle Scout isn’t the only thing Villalobos has going on — he’ll be studying pre-professional science at Northwest College after which he hopes to become a nurse.

He can’t know where life will take him for sure but he likes the idea of staying somewhere nearby.