When it comes to hard work, these Scouts can cut it.
“I know this is short notice, but …,” began a conversation from Amy Turk, an adult leading member of Scout Troop 220, which is sponsored by the Key Peninsula Lions Club. The very next day, I showed up camera in hand to catch our finest in action chopping fire wood for sale to support the troop’s activities.
When I was much younger, I, too, engaged in this sort of muscle-firing, sweat-producing, but inspiring activity. It is hard, yet rewarding, work!
Amy explained that, “While at Fred Meyer selling Boy Scout popcorn this fall, a Gig Harbor community member, John Hargrove, approached one of our Scout Mom’s, Adriana Gutierrez, and her son Xavier Scott. John told them that his gated community Quiet Forest Park, just down the street, had just dropped a few trees and they were looking to give them to an organization that could sell them. He wanted to know if our troop would be interested.
”Once the popcorn selling season was over, we reached out to John and scheduled a Sunday to come out, chop, and haul away as much wood as we could. That first Sunday we had about 25 scouts, leaders, and family members show up with gloves, chainsaws, axes, sledges and wedges, and a splitter to work hard to get the job done.
We worked for about 5-6 hours and filled five large work trucks with chopped firewood. The following Sunday, we rallied the troops again and headed back out to finish the job. We did this AFTER we worked dropping bags on doors for our annual Scouting For Food program for the KP Food Bank.
”We again worked 5-6 hours and at the end of the day were rushing to beat nightfall. We finished the job just before dark and left the neighborhood free of downed trees! We unloaded at our Scoutmaster Chris Quill’s property in the dark with the help of all the truck headlights.”
The scouts did all this work on two consecutive Sundays in November.
“Between both Sundays, we managed to fill up nine large truckloads!” Amy said. “The wood does have to sit for 9 months to a year to be properly seasoned and ready to sell. If anyone is interested in buying firewood to burn for next year and would like to support scouts in this way please feel free to reach out to us!”
Types of wood available to buy for 2020 burning: Douglas Fir, Hemlock (limited amount), Cedar (an abundance).
“I think that chopping up firewood is important for the community because some people might not be able to afford buying it from the store,” said Scout Ben Easley.
Scout mom Diana Smith said, “My son James Smith is a BSA Troop 220 Second Class scout who attends KPMS. James says he had fun chopping wood and working outside.”
Pamela Meeker, Scout Dominick Meeker’s mother, is “so proud of how hard all the scouts worked, chopping, loading and unloading all of that wood. They showed a tremendous amount of commitment to getting the job done and done well. I was impressed by how respectful the boys AND girls were in trying not to make too much of a mess out of the property owner’s lawns.”
Scout Sterling Adams felt, “It’s important so that the troop can make some money and so that others who might not have money can join the troop. It was fun except for the splinters and blisters!”
Scouts Ivory Adams and Sterling Adams’ mother, Barbara Huhel, said, “I love helping out the Boy Scouts but I’m no Spring Chicken, I haven’t chopped wood in 15 years! Boy did I feel it!”
To scout Gabe Schaar, “It was a lot of hard work but we managed to get it all done and still have fun!” And Scout Xavier Scott felt, “Overall it was difficult but nice to help out our community.”
For Amy Turk, “It was so great to see so many scouts and their family members rally together to work hard for a common cause. Every single scout and family member that showed up to help left exhausted, dirty, and sore. We worked hard! It was a great bonding experience and nice to see the community reach out and donate wood so that we can raise money for our troop’s future expenses!”
And some of those expenses involve providing support to kids who want to be, but cannot afford to be, scouts.
John Hargrove is the contact for the community that donated the wood to Troop 220. His contact information is: johnny.hargroves@gmail.com. The community is Quiet Forest Park (POB 2251 Gig Harbor, WA 98335). His cell phone number is 253-961-3025. He is aware that you may be contacting him.
To learn more about Scout Troop 220, contact Scoutmaster Chris Quill at Chris Quill v-quillc@microsoft.com or Amy Turk at 253-226-6960 or amyturk@centurylink.net
This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 12:00 AM.