New Crosswalk in Place in Esko Thanks to Three Girls

ESKO, MINN. — It was three girls who, when they were 12 wanted to earn a Girl Scout silver award and came up with a project to make their community a better place.  The girls are now 16 and will be entering their junior year in high school.  The project was to get new, more visible crosswalk signs in and now finally, the signs are in place The girls talked about the project and the reasons for following through.

Claire Fontaine said, “I think that this project brought a light to the problem of driving safely, especially in small communities like this with so many kids.”

Carli Bloom said, “It was important because there’s been people who have been hurt down there, no one stops.”

“We thought of a lot of different things we wanted to do, but the crosswalk sign was the one we most wanted to do,” said Alexis Halvorson, ” We felt it would really give back to the community even after were gone.”

Covid was a major stumbling block because the girls couldn’t meet in person and they also had to communicate with public officials only through email and letters. They also had planned to raise money to help pay for the signs, but that also fell by the wayside.

Thankfully the company that manufactures the signs, MoboTrex heard about the girl’s efforts and it stepped up and donated the signs.

The  Girl Scout troop leader, Sybil  Halvoson, summed up what she and the girls were feeling. “I’m bummed that it took four years, but I’m happy that it’s here now and they’re getting recognition for it.”