MONTEVIDEO, Minn. — When a small town was looking for a dog park, a high school student stepped up. Jaxon Wagner turned an idea into reality in the city of Montevideo.
“We meet here every day and they run around like they’re crazy,” says Mark Christianson.
When it comes to taking the dog for a walk, Mark suddenly has a new option. Instead of going to the forest, he goes to Wag’s Bark Park.
“I can take her out now and she doesn’t get tangles and mud, and I don’t get any hassle from the wife when I get home,” Christianson said.
The “Bark Park” just opened, but it has already become a destination. And everything you see is Wagner’s brainchild.
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“It’s been a goal since day one. I didn’t think I would ever make a project this big,” Wagner said.
In addition to being an athlete and musician, Wagner is also a boy scout. Knowing that dog parks are hard to find in small towns, he thought this would make for a great Eagle Scout project.
“Everyone I asked in town said, ‘I want a dog park because my dogs need a place to run around and have fun,’” Wagner said.
So he made a blueprint, met with city leaders, secured land and then started fundraising.
Wagner raised about $16,000 for most of what he needed for the project. That included 700 feet of fencing, which he also had to learn to install.
“I didn’t know anything about fencing. I didn’t know how to put up a fence. But now I do. I watched a few YouTube videos and found out,” Wagner said.
Football teammates and fellow dog lovers helped with the installation. After two years of planning and work, the park opened this month. Wagner has about 40 merit badges, but he believes the Bark Park is where he unleashed his true talents.
“I think it’s great. I’m very grateful to the whole community and they’ve been a super big help in this whole process as well,” Wagner said. “It was great fun to do. I learned a lot and met a lot of nice people and I was able to experience many things that I never thought I would experience.”
Wagner said he wants to earn a master’s degree in aerospace engineering when he graduates from Montevideo this spring.
Johannes Lauritsen
