Earning their BADGES
Local Boy Scouts got the chance to work on their merit badges with the help of volunteers with the skills and experience to give the scouts hands-on training in a variety of trades and careers.
Called “Merit Badge Weekend,” the event was held at Camp Overton and sponsored by Troop 631, though members of other area Boy Scout troops participated.
“What we’ve done,” said troop leader Kelly McVey, “is offer 20 different merit badges over a period of three days. So we have different classes going on at different times of the day. We’re doing some required merit badges for Eagle. We’re doing some that are not required for Eagle.”
The scouts were obviously enjoying the classes, which ranged from sculpture and home repairs to medicine and law, with a little rocket science thrown in for good measure, as one scout pointed out.
“I’m learning how to build a rocket,” said scout Robby Brown, “and how to launch it. We’re going for a space exploration merit badge. It’s pretty fun.”
“They can take five classes a day,” McVey said. “Different things that they have selected. We’ve done some that are required merit badges, and some of them are electives. Like the one here, Space Exploration, they build their own rocket, then tomorrow they’re going to be shooting them off in the field over here.”
Volunteers generously donated their time to train the scouts, something McVey said they very much appreciated.
“We’ve got a lot of people coming in from different parts of the county to teach them,” he said. “We’ve got lawyers. Yesterday Mrs. Little brought a policeman from McMinnville to talk to the boys. We had a schoolteacher who did American Heritage. We’ve got first aid. We’ve got a sculpture class.”
The sculpture class seemed to be quite a hit with the scouts.
“The clay was fun to use,” said scout Joel Rowland. “How you made the stuff and how you put it together, it was fun.”
Around 43 scouts attended the three day event, according to Matt Davis, an Eagle Scout who volunteered to help with the weekend. Davis said he found working with the scouts a rewarding experience.
“I really enjoy seeing them grow as young men,” he said. “Learning how a boy scout should act, learning how a gentleman should act. They learn a lot about ethics and real world skills as boy scouts. Things that are kind of hard to get anymore.”