On February 24th, over 320 Boy Scouts from the Black Otter, Mountain Valley, Central, Mullan Trail, and Lewis & Clark Districts in the Montana Council – along with Scouts from the Wyoming Council – attended Merit Badge University at Montana State University (MSUB) in Billings, MT.
The event chair and brains of the operation was Chris Robertson of Black Otter District. Special guests included Billings Mayor Bill Cole, Congressman Greg Gianforte, and a representative for Senator Steve Daines.
By proclamations from Bill Cole, Steve Daines, and Greg Gainforte, February 24th is now officially recognized as Boy Scout Day in the City of Billings and the States of Montana and Wyoming!
In its second year at MSUB over 30 merit badge courses were offered.
At the Citizenship in the World Merit Badge Class, taught by Paul Gritz, Scouts were able to interact with two students at MSUB from Africa and learn about their cultures. Interesting enough, these two Students had been Scouts themselves.
Scouts taking the Aviation Merit Badge led by Walt McIntosh were able to ride in and potentially take control of a small propeller plane.
Yellowstone County Search and Rescue brought nine volunteers (and dogs) to give Scouts specialized training in Search and Rescue.
Some of the other merit badge courses offered included railroading, truck transportation, oceanography/weather, first-aid/fire safety, crime prevention/fingerprinting, and many more.
Thank you to Chris Robertson and all the volunteers and community organizations that came together to put on an amazing day for our Scouts! We look forward to an even bigger event in 2019!
