Ryan Martinka wears his scout uniform at the Defenders Monument on Center Street. The dozen dark-green bollards surrounding the monuments were repainted by Martinka last year. The repainting of the bollards as well as parking posts at the Civic Center and Park and Recreation Center were part of Martinka’s final Eagle Scout project.

NEW ULM – Last month Ryan Martinka achieved a goal fewer than 10% of Boy Scouts achieve. He was able to reach the rank of Eagle Scout

Martinka said he joined scouting at age 8 and has always enjoyed it, but from the beginning he had his eye set on Eagle Scout.

“When I was in the Cub Scouts, my goal all along was to be an Eagle Scout, like my dad,” he said. “It was something I knew I could do.”

It would take him nine years, but in June, he was awarded the Eagle Scout status.

In order to achieve Eagle Scout, a scout must receive at least 21 merit badges. There are 14 badges that are required to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.

For Martinka, the easiest merit badge was swimming. His family had a cabin on Green Lake and had extensive training in swimming. The most challenging merit badge for Martinka: personal finance.

“I know making a budget is how a person deals with life, but it is hard to do at 16,” he said. “But it is important to manage money and be responsible.”

Though not required for Eagle Scout, one of his favorite merit badges was for aviation. Martinka said it was one of his first badges. This required visiting the Mankato Airport and learning about flight. After the class, he was able to tag along for a plane ride.

After a scout has obtained all the necessary badges, the last step is completing an Eagle Scout project for the community.

“I was struggling to think of something at first,” Martinka said. “My father and grandfather suggested asking New Ulm Park and Recreation if there was something they needed help.”

As it turned out, Parks and Recreation had a few outstanding maintenance projects; specifically, re-painting parking posts and traffic bollards. The parking posts outside the Park and Recreation Center and Civic Center all needed a fresh coat of yellow paint. On Center Street, the bollards surrounding the Defenders Monument needed another layer of dark green.

Martinka said it was not a complicated task. The greatest challenge was avoiding spilling paint near the posts, but he was able to finish the project during a single morning last August. It would take another 10 months after completing the project to receive the rank of Eagle Scout.

Martinka has officially been an Eagle Scout for a month and said, “It’s kind of hard to believe, but it is very satisfying to achieve this goal after so long.”

Martinka said he always had the confidence he could reach Eagle Scout, but he also enjoyed his time in the scouts and valued the education he received. Martinka valued all the friends he made through his time in the scouts and said the trips to Camp Cuyuna would be with him for life.

“[In scouts] I found out all these important skills and learned a lot about life,” he said.

This fall, Martinka will be a high school senior. After graduating, he hopes to attend the University of Minnesota for pre-med. He said his plans could change over the next year, but said he is considering the medical field because he wants to help people.

“Helping people is one of the requirements of being an Eagle Scout.”

It also helps that the first-aid training merit badge is required for Eagle Scout.