Have you ever wondered if there was a place in Juneau where Boy Scouts could earn up to four Merit Badges in one weekend?
On Nov. 25-26, Juneau Boy Scouts could experience all of this and more at the Merit Badge Fair. This event is held annually at the Church of Latter Day Saints in Lemon Creek.
Merit badges are an award that scouts can earn to further their knowledge in specific skills. Last weekend, there were a total of 25 different badges that scouts could earn. This included family life, astronomy, swimming, energy, bird study, journalism and climbing.
Taking part in the fair were 62 scouts from seven different troops from all over Juneau. There were 22 counselors instructing the classes as well as an extra adult in every room to follow the safety procedures for the fair, which has been going on since the 1970s.
Beth Dobson, coordinator of the fair, returned for her second year in that position.
“Working together with all of the scouts, adult leadership and volunteers throughout Juneau is very rewarding,” Dobson said.
The Merit Badge Fair also includes some travel for some of the badges. For example, the Climbing Merit Badge included a trip to the climbing wall. Another part of the fair is everyone taking a trip to the pool to do things such as finish the Swimming Merit Badge. The pool trip historically happens the last day of the fair and this year took place at the downtown Augustus Brown Swimming Pool.
The merit badge counselor for the Energy Merit Badge, Nathan Leigh, had a class of nine scouts and concluded that all the scouts in his class were actively engaged in the fair. Leigh has just completed his twelfth year at the fair. He had held the coordinator position until passing it off to Dobson.
“Scouting is a great opportunity for boys to grow into men and we wish more boys in Juneau would sign up for Boy Scouts,” Leigh said.
Raymond (Raymie) Matiashowski is one of the scouts who took part in the fair this year. Matiashowski concluded that the fair was well organized, the counselors understood the material and he achieved quite a lot to help him as a Boy Scout.
“Well run, and the merit badge counselors were obviously prepared for the merit badges they were teaching,” Raymie said.
• Lucas Erickson is a Juneau Boy Scout and wrote this article as part as part of his Journalism Merit Badge requirements.
