EAST HELENA - The Troop 212 Boy Scouts put in hands-on work to build picnic tables. RY Timber donated the wood. Local businesses donated the hardware for the boys to build and sell these tables to fund various activities such as summer camp.
“It is important that we continue to do this because we need these funds to be able to function as a Troop. I think its important that we are able to do that,” says Cameron Mitchell, a Troop 212 Boy Scout.
Troop 212 cannot meet because of the pandemic. What they are doing is dropping off materials for each scout to build a part of the table on their own. Now, scouts, with the guidance of their families, are individually building these tables.
“I feel pretty lucky because I don’t think most people will be able to build picnic tables by themselves with their dads,” says Mayes Mitchell, a Troop 212 Boy Scout.
“The boys got to work with their families and do a lot of one-on-one with mom and dad putting the tables together and learning a lot of skills that maybe the parents don’t have the time to teach but now, it’s kind of forced upon,” laughs Eric Sommer, Troop 212 Committee Chair.
The troops and their families made 40 tables total as of Sunday, May 3rd. By this time in 2019, Troop 212 said they had 60 tables sold. As of Sunday, May 3rd, only 20 tables have been sold.
“Usually, we have a large component of businesses that buy tables. With the businesses being shut down and their future unknown, they haven’t made the large purchases that they normally make by this time. We’re hoping with orders starting to rescind and people being able to go back to work that we’ll start seeing those business orders come in,” says Sommer.
One table costs $225 and will help fund the scouts to go to Yellowstone, should it reopen this summer.
The scouts have a Facebook page to buy picnic tables. The Facebook page is here: Troop 1212 - Picnic Table Build .
