When Eagle Scout Dawson Duerer, 13, set out to identify a community service project to complete his leadership training, he went straight to Tomball Mayor Gretchen Fagan to find out what he could do that would be most helpful to the city. After talking with the public works department, Dawson decided he would work to straighten and restore concrete street markers at various intersections in and around downtown Tomball.

The concrete markers are tokens from Tomball's past, displaying the names of city streets before street signs became more common.

"There were around 50 in Tomball at one point," Dawson said. "Now there are 14 that we know of mostly scattered around the downtown area."

The project will involve removing all the old paint, smoothing out the surfaces with fresh mortar, adding a new coat of white paint, and re-stenciling in the street names, Dawson said. Crooked markers will also be straightened.

Dawson, a member of Boy Scout Troop 471 at St. Anne's Catholic Church, said the first step of the project will be to conduct fundraisers to raise the roughly $800 he estimates will be needed to complete 14 restorations. While he has set a fundraising goal of $1,000, he said he is still brainstorming the best way to go about raising the money.

"In the past, we usually did things like car washes or bake sales, but I'm still thinking about what will work best," he said. "I want it to be something that engages the community."

Dawson will also be recruiting friends, family members and other scouts when it comes to the actual restoration process. Any other community members who wish to volunteer their time would be welcomed as well, he said.

Dawson said he hopes to have the project completed in August. Once the restoration is done, he said he plans to create a map and written history of the markers that can be printed for distribution at city hall and local museums.

After presenting his project to Tomball city council members at the Feb. 18 council meeting, Dawson was commended by the council.

"Those markers are unique to the city of Tomball and I appreciate [Dawson] taking on this project because I know some of them are in bad shape," said Councilman Mark Stoll.

Dawson said he also received donations from two community members who were in attendance that evening. The donors did not give their names, but Dawson said he wanted to express his gratitude for their generosity.

Dawson, who has been a scout since he was in the first grade, just completed his eighth year in the organization. He said he enjoys the camping trips and outdoor activities, but appreciates the community service aspects of scouting as well.

"I believe it's helped me increase my leadership skills, fundraising, management, planning and speech skills," he said.