Scout troops staying involved during pandemic
Volunteers use an old-fashioned method for inviting people to a fundraising dinner benefiting Grant County Boy Scout troops.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald
Jim Duzon of Top Gun Catering (right) and Micah Van Kirk (left) prepare a sandwich at the tailgate fundraiser for the Boy Scouts Monday in Moses Lake.
Volunteer Bob Bernd, right, talks with customers at the tailgate party fundraiser for Grant County Boy Scout troops Monday in Moses Lake.
Volunteer Micah Van Kirk, left, and Top Gun Catering's Jim Duzon prepare a dinner during the tailgate party fundraiser for Grant County Boy Scout troops Monday in Moses Lake.
MOSES LAKE — Their summer camp was canceled because of the coronavirus outbreak, but local Boy Scout troops have found ways to meet and stay active.
“Scouting has kept going,” Leahy said. Troops have met remotely. “Even my 6-year-old grandson knows what a Zoom meeting is.”
“We’ve had Zoom sleepovers,” she said, where kids stayed in their own yards but got together with the rest of the troop remotely. Scouts also kept working individually to qualify for merit badges.
Local Scout troops sponsored a tailgate party — a drive-thru version of a tailgate party — Monday afternoon to raise money for Scouting activities.
Organizer Nancy Leahy said cancellation of the annual summer camp left a dent in the Grand Columbia Council budget. The council is the regional organization for Scouting in North Central Washington.
“We’re doing this to help us catch up,” Leahy said. It was also a chance to teach the community a little bit about Scouting and to give kids signup information.
Bob Bernd was among the volunteers handing out food and collecting donations Monday. Bernd was an Eagle Scout, and said the value of Scouting wasn’t in any specific merit badge or program.
“It’s pretty much a life lesson,” he said.
Leahy said she learned a lot from her time as a den mother, about leadership, problem-solving and passing those lessons along to the kids in the troop.
The Boy Scouts recently opened membership to girls; Leahy said the number of girl troops in the Grand Columbia Council has increased from two early in the year to seven now.
Boy Scouts is providing activities for kids, even through the pandemic — and will continue to have things for kids to do, Leahy said. “We’re going to be here when this is over,” she said.
Jim Duzon, owner of Top Gun Catering, provided the food. Similar events were held in Yakima and Ellensburg.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.
