Citizen of the Week: Ryan Goembel Builds Habitat and a Future

East Coweta High School senior Ryan Goembel is used to spending time on the water. He rows competitively with Row Georgia, and for his Eagle Scout service project, he found a way to make Lake McIntosh in Peachtree City a little more welcoming for some of its other residents.

Goembel built and installed five nesting boxes for wood ducks in wooded areas along the south end of the lake. Wood ducks are cavity nesters, meaning they typically look for openings in dead trees or similar protected spaces where they can lay eggs and hatch their young.

“They really just use it for nesting,” Goembel said. “So it’s where they lay their eggs and hatch the ducklings, and then after they do that, they basically just leave it, and then the duck box needs to get cleaned out, and then a new duck will move in the next nesting season.”

The project required more than woodworking. Because the boxes were going on public property, Goembel first worked with Fayette County Parks and Recreation to get the project approved. The location also required additional approval involving the Fayette County Water System and Scouting.

Then came the logistical challenge: There was no road access to the sites.

The materials, volunteers, and completed boxes had to cross Lake McIntosh by boat. That is where Goembel’s other major activity — rowing — came in handy. Members of Row Georgia helped with the project, and his coach drove a jon boat to transport people and materials.

“It was very wooded and only accessible by boat,” Goembel said.

He said the entire project totaled about 123 hours from planning through completion. Volunteers gathered for two main workdays, first building the boxes at the Goembel home and then heading to the lake to install them.

Goembel has been involved in Scouting since joining Cub Scouts as a first grader in 2015. Now headed into his senior year at East Coweta, he has also developed into a nationally competitive rower.

His mother, Michelle Goembel, said Ryan and his doubles partner advanced to the USRowing Youth National Championships in Sarasota, Florida, in June, where they finished as the 18th-fastest men’s double in the country.

Rowing has become something of a family sport. Ryan is the third of four boys, and both of his older brothers row for their colleges — one at Clemson University and the other at Michigan State University.

Ryan said he got into the sport after watching an older brother give it a try.

“My mom told me, ‘Hey, you should try this,’ and I did, and just kind of stuck,” he said.

It stuck enough that rowing is helping shape his college plans. Goembel hopes to attend the United States Naval Academy, which has a competitive men’s rowing program. If that does not work out, he said the University of Wisconsin is another top choice.

Finding that level of competition means looking beyond Georgia. Michelle Goembel said Georgia colleges may have men’s club rowing programs, but not Division I men’s rowing teams. That also means Ryan’s nationally competitive rowing does not count as a school sport at East Coweta.

Getting into the Naval Academy presents another challenge. Ryan explained that applicants generally need a nomination from a member of Congress, a U.S. senator, or the vice president.

When he learned during his interview that U.S. Rep. Brian Jack reads The Citizen, Ryan immediately saw an opportunity.

“Really talk me up, I guess,” he said.

So, Congressman Jack, for the record: Goembel has all A’s, takes AP classes, plans to add dual enrollment during his senior year, is an Eagle Scout, is a nationally competitive rower, and just spent more than 100 hours creating nesting habitat for wood ducks at Lake McIntosh.

Now he’s a Citizen of the Week.

And, apparently, he has a pretty good personality, too.

Between school, Scouting, and rowing, Goembel admitted there is not much unused space on his calendar.

But even after finishing his Eagle Scout project, his involvement with the duck boxes may not be over. Goembel said he expects to return to Lake McIntosh periodically to check them and may help clean them when the nesting season ends.

For a student whose life already revolves around boats, teamwork, and time on the water, five quiet nesting spots tucked into the woods of Peachtree City are a fitting contribution to leave behind.