Fund Raiser

We just completed our fund raiser for the year. It was a little different from what we have done before. In past years we have done the flag project--place flags on people's lawns on holidays during the summer. While that is a good thing to do, and earned the boys a fair bit of money, I never really liked it. I don't think our Bishop did much either. Mostly because it takes boys and leaders away from their families every holiday throughout the summer.

So, we tried something different. We put on a dinner and silent auction for our ward. We may not have raised quite as much money as with the flags, but we did pretty well. Our Varsity Scouts had spent the month before learning blacksmithing and had made knives to sell at the auction. I made a couple hiking sticks and some antler whistles.

Both of the sticks came from Juniper trees burned in a fire a couple years ago. I found that if you cut them within a year or so of the fire they are solid and dry. The limbs are burned off and once you strip the bark (Juniper bark comes off easily) and clean them up, they turn out really nice. I've thought it would be a fun thing to do with our young men sometime.

This one was a Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum). I just did a simple carved hand grip. It sold for about $20-$25.

 This one was a Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma). I tried a more complex carving on the grip. It wasn't that hard, really, just took time. I think it sold for about $33 and was probably the single highest selling item we had.

  

When I got home from work yesterday, my wife told me that someone had come by asking if I would be willing to make another of these to give to a friend of theirs for a birthday or anniversary or something. We'll see.