Riley Iverson was pulling weeds, she was tired, and so was Mackenzie Medcraft, but they were almost done. The duck pond was looking so great; they could not stop. They knew the community would love it. In August, Girl Scout Troop 20047 did a refresh of the duck pond at Minnieska Park. Cannon Falls’ Girl Scouts do much to make the town and the environment a better place.

Riley Iverson and Mackenzie Medcraft are the two girls in Troop 20047. Medcraft has been in Girl Scouts for nine years, whereas Iverson has been involved for eight. The leaders of this troop are Jill Medcraft and Emily Iverson. Emily Iverson commented on the project, saying, “The girls were very excited about refreshing the duck pond.”

Iverson and Medcraft decided to do this project for their silver award. Makenzie said, “Riley and I have been visiting the duck pond since we were little and it was starting to look run down.” The duck pond is located at the Minneiska park by the Cannon River. The girls used fence cups to make a mural on the back fence. The girls also decided to plant some baby trees for shade. The types of trees that they planted were Maples and a Japanese Lilac tree. They also removed weeds and vines to expose the stone wall. They painted the duck feeders and removed one of the swan feeders. 

They did this project in early August. The Girl Scout troop spent months trying to get permission to work on the duck pond. Mackenzie went to the Park Board meeting in April to present the project, and later in May, Riley went to see if it was approved. After it was approved they had to talk to Public Works to see what improvements they should make to the duck pond. Jackson Althoff and Matthew Endres both agreed that the improvements to the duck pond were noticeable.

For the rest of the month, Riley kept watering the trees they planted. The improvements they made look great and the ducks seem happier. The ducks have more room to wander around and people can see the beauty of the duck pond once again.