It was work, a lot of work, they were told. It was hard, really hard, the Eagle Scout repeatedly stressed.

While others might have been daunted by the difficulty, Floriano heard a challenge — and accepted.

“I was like, ‘OK, I want it,'” Floriano said, “and I’ve stuck with it ever since.”

Now 17 and a junior at Kingsford High School, Floriano this summer earned that Eagle Scout rank he’d set his sights on in those Cub Scout days by helping plan and organize building a wall around the Thomas “Wildcat” King monument in Randville in Sagola Township.

THE THOMAS “WILDCAT” King monument before Floriano’s Eagle Scout project. (Daily News file photo)

King lived from 1830 to 1910 and was the last chief of the Badwater Band of Chippewa Indians. His life included toting mail by foot from Green Bay, Wis., to the Keweenaw Peninsula; operating a boarding house and ferry in what now is Breitung Township and Florence, Wis.; and working in the Groveland Mine in the Felch Township area.

King ultimately settled on a farm in Randville along the creek now named for him that’s roughly a half-mile from where the plaque, dedicated in 2017, stands off M-95 near County Road 607, behind the Randville Hall.

The Floriano family has a camp not far from the monument, so they were familiar with it and the Randville area.

Jim Harris, managing director of the Dickinson County Road Commission, has long been “pro-scout,” he said. He had hoped as well that someone would do enhancements at the King marker site.

So when the Florianos approached him about doing the monument as an Eagle Scout project, he was more than willing to give Michael the green light.

THE FINISHED Thomas “Wildcat” King monument in Randville in Sagola Township, from a different angle that shows more of the overall design, which Michael Floriano III had to plan to earn his Eagle Scout rank. (Betsy Bloom/Daily News photo)

The Florianos met with Harris at the site late last summer, when Michael was 15, to discuss potential ideas. But Harris was quick to say that other than removing the steel and concrete safety bollards at the monument, his office did not play a significant role in the project, just remained available to assist if needed.

The toughest part of the project was the planning, Floriano said. He had to coordinate people and work days so enough volunteers — other scouts from Troop 532 in Norway, family members and other adults, mostly — would be on site at the right times. The group would put in about 250 hours at the monument.

A private contractor might have required $30,000 to $35,000 to do the job. But because it was an Eagle Scout project, many factors came together to keep the costs down, even in these high-inflation times. In the end, an estimated $8,500 in materials went into the monument enhancements.

Floriano and his father, who goes by Mike, noted they were fortunate to have a single donor willing to back the project, which meant further fundraising was not needed, simplifying the process. That donor wished to remain anonymous, they added.

They broke ground May 20 but had to wait until the then-sophomore finished track season in early June — coming away with UP championships in the 200 meters and 4×100 relay — before really turning their full attention to the monument, they said.

ALSO ADDED TO the Thomas "Wildcat" King monument site as part of Michael Floriano's Eagle Scout project was this sitting area, with benches and small tables. (Betsy Bloom/Daily News photo)

They started with the wall — “everything else was easy compared to the wall,” Michael said — then got the pavers in place in the new enclosed area.

They were racing to complete the project by July 1, as new Eagle Scout qualification rules took effect after that date that would require an additional merit badge, Mike explained. They finished June 29.

They credited Dave Deguiliani, with Champion Concrete Inc. in Iron Mountain, as project overseer for not only ordering supplies but having them delivered to the site. They managed to have enough extra materials to add a side area with a couple benches and small tables.

“It snowballed,” the younger Floriano said.

Karol Domitrovich of KCD Speciality Landscaping & Nursery in Iron Mountain helped with installation and provided other guidance and direction on the project, they said.

And R-C Rebuilders and Fabricators of Iron Mountain created the metal frame for the “medicine wheel” in the center of the pavers, a nod to King’s Native American heritage.

They unveiled the finished results July 18 with a gathering of Sagola Township officials and others.

“I think it’s great,” Don Minerick, Sagola Township supervisor, said of the monument site. “It was quite an accomplishment for the young man.”

It turned out “way better than I thought it would,” Michael said, adding, “I wasn’t exactly sure how it would look in the end, because I’m not an artistic person, but it came to fruition.”

He had his board review of the project Aug. 1, when he officially earned his Eagle Scout rank. The Eagle Scout Court of Honor ceremony will be Oct. 9 at the American Legion post in Norway.

He thinks the experience taught him a lot about dealing with challenges — and adversity. Scouting right now, he said, “is not a very popular thing to be in.”

His father, Mike, noted that youth today have many other activities that vie for their time. While perhaps 110 kids might be in Cub Scouts, only nine stay on for Boy Scouts.

“To stick with it, even though he’s playing two sports, that is a pretty big accomplishment,” he said of his son. “I guess it makes you more well-rounded.”

Now that he’s achieved the highest scout rank, Michael will turn much of his attention to sports and his final two years of high school. He’s looking forward to his senior year, applying for grants for college with an eye on possibly pursuing a business degree of some sort.

He’ll age out of scouting when he reaches 18. But near his family’s camp, Michael will always have a reminder of his scouting days whenever he passes the monument along M-95 and County Road 607.

“Man, it turned out great,” Harris, of the road commission, said of the enhancements. “I think it’s going to attract more people now to stop and actually look at it.”

Harris added, “We had a young man step up, who took the bull by the horns and took care of it.”