Posts Tagged ‘troop auction’


Melrose Area Scout Troop 68 holds a Troop Auction following its December court of honor. This auction is a tradition that has been held for over 30 years. The first was held in 1987.

The Scouts use “Troop Bucks” they have earned during the year to bid on prizes. Troop Bucks, which are not real money, are earned by attending outings, earning merit badges, and earning ranks. The more active a Scout is during the year, the more Troop Bucks he will earn. The Troop Bucks are handed out during the December court of honor. Any bucks not spend may be saved by the Scout to use in next year’s auction.

There were fifteen prizes for the 2022 auction. The total cost of the prizes was only $120. Some of the prizes were donated. Surprisingly, the most expensive prize was the Boy Scout Handbook at a $25 cost. The item sold for the lowest bid happened to be a Scout web belt. Bids were place in $5 increments.

Once the bidding began it was fun to watch the Scouts. Some items were quite popular and had a lot of bids. Sometimes you could tell a Scout or two was bidding just to raise the stakes, hoping they would not get stuck with the item. Sometimes a Scout really wanted the item but did not have enough Troop Bucks to bid high enough to get the prize. In total, the Scouts bid a combined $3440 for the prizes.

So, what were the prizes and what were the final bids? Boy Scout Handbook – $160. Troop 68 Tee Shirt – $230. BSA Web Belt – $65. BSA Bolo Tie – $125. Merit Badge Sash with Clip – $350. Five piece Mess Kit – $125. Lock Blade Knife – $400. LED Flashlight – $175. Smartphone Adjustable Stand – $205. Pair of Carabiners – $150. Rawling Baseball – $175. Sharpening Stone with case – $310. Fleece Throw Blanket – $330. Gamer 3 Ring Binder (with a hidden $20 bill) – $450. Laptop Bag – $190.

More fun came after the auction ended. Some Scouts were trading their winnings with other Scouts. It seemed that all the Scouts were happy after the trading ended.

2014 troop auctionWow! It was a lively troop auction this year. The Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 seemed to like the selection of prizes and they were ready to spend their “troop bucks”. (See the last post for the explanation of the troop auction and the troop bucks.) They surprised me once again with what they valued and placed the high bids for. Here is a quick summary of the evening.

The item that went for the highest bid, and what I expected to go high, was the $20.00 cash prize for which only this year’s troop bucks could be used. The final bid was 900 bucks. Two prizes went for 500 bucks or higher. The 100 page jumbo scrap book sold for 500 bucks, while the mid-range disc golf disc went for a surprising 580 bucks. A day pack/small duffle bag set went for 445 bucks.

Usually, the last few items do not sell for very much, many times for less than 25 bucks, but this year was a little different. The item with the smallest bid was kite accessory which sold for 50 bucks. We usually have a Scout Handbook as one prize and this year was no different. It sold for 155 bucks.A Scout bolo tie went for only 85 bucks. When everything was auctioned off I think most of the Scouts had spent nearly all of their troop bucks. I also noticed that every Scout went home with something this year. That does not happen very often.

I decided to tally the amount the boys spent on this year’s prizes while we were putting the room back in order. I was impressed. The total spent during this year’s auction was 4000 troop bucks! I do not think the Scouts have spend that much at one auction since 2004. Like I said at the start of this post, it was a lively troop auction this year.

auctionprizesOn Monday, December 15th, following the last court of honor for the year, Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68 will hold its annual troop auction.While some troops hold auctions as fundraisers, Troop 68 does things a little differently. Our auction is actually an event for the Boy Scouts to bid on prizes using “troop bucks” they earned during the year.

I began the troop auction when I was the scoutmaster in the 1980’s. It became so popular that we have held one every year since then, even after I stepped down as the scoutmaster. The Scouts enjoy bidding on the prizes as if they were participating in a real auction, which they are when you think about it.

The idea for the auction came about as an extra way to encourage the Scouts to participate in troop activities and earn advancement. Attend an troop outing, earn 25 troop bucks. Earn a merit badge, earn 50 bucks. Ranks were valued for 100-200 troop bucks.

The Boy Scouts receive a certificate at the December court of honor with the amount of troop bucks earned during the year. This has no monetary value. Its only purpose is for the troop auction bidding. Any troop bucks not earned this year may be saved and used next year. The certificates expire on the Scout’s 18th birthday. Certificates may only be used by the Scouts who’s name appears on the certificate. Scouts may not use each other’s troop bucks or combine theirs to create larger bids for prizes.

Prices range from small to large items. There is usually something Scouting, like a handbook or a bolo tie. There is camping gear, from water bottles or flashlights to small backpacks or day packs. Of course, there are also items just for the fun of it. There is a $20 cash prize that only the troop bucks earned during the current year can be used to bid upon.

It has been interesting to see which prizes have been popular, or not, over the years. There have been items which I thought would have had a lot of bidding but the Scouts did not care for. There have been items I thought would go for a small amount but instead had a bidding war going on. Every is different.

The picture shows the prizes for this year’s auction. What will be the most popular? I am not sure. But it will be fun to find out on Monday night.

2013 auction prizesI was looking for a way to further excite the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 to attend troop activities and earn their advancement when I came up with the idea of having a troop auction for prizes at the end of the year. I do not remember if I got the idea from another troop or if I came up with it myself. I do know that it has been a part of our program for over twenty years, and that other Scouts leaders have developed their own auction programs after listening to how Troop 68 conducts theirs.

Here is how it works. The Scouts earn “troop bucks” each time they go on an outing and for each merit badge and rank they earn during the year. They earn $25 per troop outing. They earn $50 for each merit badge. They earn $100 for attaining Tenderfoot, Second Class, or First Class; $150 for attaining Star or Life Rank; and $200 for reaching the rank of Eagle Scout. These bucks are then used to bid on prizes during the “troop auction” held after the December court of honor.

When I first began doing the auction I would hand out troop bucks at each court of honor. The bucks were actually Monopoly money with our troop stamp stamped over the top of it so the boys could not use Monopoly money from their own games. The Scouts had to store the money themselves. If they lost it it would not be replaced.

The Monopoly money worked well for a few years, but then Monopoly money disappeared from store shelves. Another problem was that brothers started pooling their money together to bid on the bigger prizes. That was not the way the bucks were meant to be used and was very unfair to those Scouts who did not have brothers in the troop.

I created a troop bucks certificate on the computer to replace the Monopoly money. The certificate contained the Scout’s name. amount earned, and the year earned. Certificates could only be used by the person who’s name appeared on it. The year on the certificate helped to keep things honest for the one prize we auctioned for which only bucks earned that year could be used to bid. I also awarded the certificate once a year, at the December court of honor. That created less work for me and less chance of Scouts losing the bucks before the year’s last court of honor.

Any unused troop bucks could be saved to be used another year on regular prizes. Once a Scout turned 18 years old his troop bucks became non-valid. It was interesting to watch older Scouts try to use up any troop bucks they owned at their last auction before they turned eighteen. Bidding is done in $5 increments.

We I started the troop auction we based the amount spent on prizes by the amount of advancement earned during the year. A certain amount would be added to the kitty for each merit badge and rank. The more the Scouts advanced, the more money was thrown into the kitty, and the more prizes or bigger prizes could be bought. That worked well until the troop started shrinking. Ten Scouts had trouble earning a large fund so we changed the financing to a lump some. I also based the number of prizes on the number of Scouts currently enrolled in the program. We did not need 30 prizes when we only had eight Scouts.

I also wanted to keep the cost of the auction down so I began looking for prizes throughout the year, not just a month before the auction. I started getting pretty good and finding nice items for free or little cost.

Each auction contains some “traditional” items. There is the Boy Scout Handbook, because someone is going to wear theirs out during the year. Boy Scout bolo ties and merit badge sashes have also been used as prizes on a regular basis. I usually try to include some sort of camping gear. And then there are some fun prizes, of course.

Tonight is Troop 68’s final court of honor for the year. The troop auction will immediately follow it. The picture posted with this article shows most of the prizes which will be auctioned. A merit badges sash is missing, as is the $20 cash prize for which only 2013 troop bucks will be allowed to be used to bid. There will be a lot of first time bidders at this auction. It should be a good night.

Has your troop does anything like this as a part of your program?