BRAD HORN/Nevada Appeal As part of a Girl Scout project, Caroline Montiel, 15, left, and Erica Knutson, 15, designed a rock sculpture that will be placed at the Moffat open space property. The high school freshmen are in Carson City Troop 475. Montiel plans to attend University of California at Los Angeles while Knutson wants to study at University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
All that Erica Knutson and Caroline Montiel wanted to do was make their community a little better and, in the process, earn their Girl Scout Silver Award.
The pair of 15-year-olds, the only remaining members of troop 475, decided to carve the skyline and important buildings of Carson City into a giant three-by-four-foot rock that would be placed in the Moffat open space area adjacent to Fairview Drive near Butti Way.
"We wanted to include everything that makes Carson what it is, and make the city more beautiful," Erica said.
The carving design included the Nevada State Railroad Museum, Western Nevada Community College, Carson High School, the Nevada State Museum, the Capitol, C Hill and the Ormsby House.
To obtain the Silver Award, the girls had to fulfill the requirements for more than a dozen badges, complete 15 hours of community service and finish their project.
Over the course of 18 months, the girls found a design, chose a rock and attended Parks and Recreation Committee meetings to get approval for the massive sculpture. They went to the Nevada State Prison and found inmates who could do the carving for them.
"We decided to include the prison in the carving to show some acknowledgment of those who helped us," Caroline said.
But the sandstone the girls chose began to flake during the carving process and the girls were forced to seek out another stone.
"By the time we found a rock that would work, the prison shut down the program that let them carve it and sent the inmates to different prisons," Erica said.
Now with almost two years invested in the project, they need an artist to help make it a reality.
"We wouldn't feel complete if we don't finish our project," Caroline said.
Erica said, "We have invested so much time in this. We don't want to feel we quit at the end."
The girls said they don't have a lot of money to offer someone willing to help, but they do have something potentially more valuable.
"We are willing to make deals for cookies," Erica said.
• Contact reporter Jarid Shipley at jshipley@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.