Community Opens Hearts and Wallets in Support of Boy Scout Troop 422

The sixth annual Boy Scout Troop 422 dinner and auction Friday night at Enumclaw High School might be the largest yet, both in terms of attendance and the sheer number of items donated for the auction, said master of ceremonies Edward Hechter.

The number of people hovered right around 300, according to auction committee member Connie Hood.

And the event program lists 212 items up for auction (live and silent) donated by almost 200 local merchants. Some of these items included jewelry, home decor collectibles, furniture, an assortment of gift baskets as well as services from pet grooming to auto care. (The 212 figure does not include the dessert portion of the auction.)

Auctioneer Jim Jungers told the audience as the last live auction item was sold that from the live auction of 12 items alone, more than $14,000 was raised for the Troop.

The money goes, in large part, to funding a high adventure trip this year to the Florida Sea Base for the Troop -- all members age 13 and older. In 2009, 22 troop members attended the Northern Tier Adventure Base in northern Minnesota. These represent two of three high adventure programs of the Boy Scouts of America, said Hechter.

Many in attendance also pledged donations to purchase a new scoutmaster tent that had been duct-tape-repaird many times and as the program says, "it's time for it to hike off to that Great Campground in the Sky..."

Not all the money went one way toward the Troop. There was a sum of $415 that Shirley Brockmann won after a rousing game of Heads and Tails in which participants put $10 into a pot and were slowly disqualified from the game when their prediction of 'heads' or 'tails' didn't match the actual coin flip.

Scoutmaster Update

Scoutmaster Tom Crews thanked the community for its support and reported that the Troop has put in more than 300 hours of community service back into the Enumclaw Plateau community in the last year.

Of note, Crews told the audience that one scout in particular was well on his way toward becoming an Eagle Scout and was just short a Scout Board review before he could acquire his new rank.

The scout, Tanner Firlotte, 17, was involved in a . The broken bones and serious injuries to his left side have all but faded leaving a few light scars on his temple and hands. In fact, he was able to return to his studies by about October and in January of this year completed his Eagle Scout project in which he constructed the shelter at the parking lot of the Enumclaw Foothills Trail on Warner Avenue off State Route 410 for a restroom facility, said Crews.

"My doctor was surprised at how fast I got better," Firlotte said. A junior this year at Enumclaw High School, he credits close friends with helping him get back to school quickly, even if it was just part-time at first.

Firlotte said he'll be submitting his files to the Board soon and they will decide when his interview will be. He hopes to be an Eagle Scout by the end of the academic year, he said.

Editor's Note: Admittedly, yours truly has never been to a live auction so listening to Jim Jungers do his thing was great fun. I've included a clip of Mr. Jungers at work.