boy scout merit badge fair

Here Owen instructs scouts for the Electricity Merit Badge as a merit badge counselor

Scouts hard at work on the Art Merit Badge

[Bailey is in the foreground while Grammie, our Art merit badge counselor, is busy in the back]

Last month our ward hosted a merit badge fair. We invited all the wards in our stake, plus two other nearby stakes as well. We also invited several BSA troops from around town to join in the fun. As Scout Committee Chair, I worked closely with the Christensens, our scoutmaster and his wife to plan, organize, and carry out this event, and we're happy to say that it went very well! We had over 60 boys attend and they were all very well-behaved and worked hard all day. We were even written up in the South Valley Bee, a newspaper in Fresno that covers things that happen down in this end of the valley. And the best thing about the article was that my mom was on the front page of the newspaper! In the photograph she is shown instructing one of the boys in Art from one of our wards. Click here to read the article, although sadly the cover photograph isn't included. Although I have copies of the newspaper article, our scanner is now defunct and so I am unable to include it here. If you want a copy let me know and I'll get one to you via snail mail!

It was a really good experience for our family. We all helped set up and clean up, Owen and I did a lot of the legwork beforehand [although our scoutmaster's wife Valerie certainly bore the brunt of it, I fear], and the whole family came to stay for that whole Saturday at the church. I had them camp out in the nursery and I used our walkie-talkies to communicate with Libby who was in charge. They snacked, watched DVD's, and played with the fun nursery toys, and quite frankly surprised me with how well they behaved from 7:30 am until after 5:00 pm. It was great having my mom volunteer as a merit badge counselor for Art and Pulp & Paper-everyone said she was so organized that they couldn't believe it! I spent time registering scouts, checking on classes, getting scouts from one class to the next, organizing lunch, and just whatever needed to be done. We're even thinking about doing one next year, although our scoutmaster wants to do it again in just 6 months! We'll have to see about that . . .