What is Laughs For Lunch? It is an annual show the Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 perform for the community that supports them throughout the year. Audience members bring an item of food for the local food shelf as admission to the show. Thus, the Scouts provide the laughs while the audience provides the lunch for the needy.
     This is the eighth show the troop has held. The show is based on songs and skits seen at some of the campfire programs at summer camps and camporees. In addition to well know campfire songs and skits the troop has developed a few original bits that also have become a part of the show. Some of the bits even included audience members who were brought on stage to have a little fun.

The troop spend its three meetings in January practicing skits and songs for the show.	The stage was turned into a campsite as the Scouts set the stage before the show began.	Members of the Wolves and Invaders Patrol performed the song "The Quartermaster's Store".
It is a tradition for the older Scouts to perform the "Radio Airwaves" skit.	Even our assistant scoutmaster got into the act as he did a skit about a baseball pitcher.	The "Shaving Cream" song has been done during several of the shows over the years.
The Invaders Patrol had fun the the old song "I Caught Myself a Baby Bumblebee."	The scoutmaster pulled a few people from the audience to help him with the "Vista" song.	At the show's end the troop invited other Scouts, leaders, and former members to join them in Scout Vespers.

The guys played Monopoly and other games Friday night after we got settled in.	Doesn't this look good? The Scouts did the cooking, but the scoutmaster made the mess.	Even though it was the older boys who wanted to sleep in a snow dome, the younger also helped.
One of the guys just had to try sledding down the side of the dome, and found it a little rough.	A small hill next to the building provided some fun for the guys Saturday morning.	Many of the Scouts had never played broom ball until we played it Saturday afternoon.
After supper it was time to hollow out the snow dome. It ended up big enough for two people.	As you can tell, the sledding hill at Camp Stearns was a awesome place to have fun.	Eight Scouts and two adults attended the weekend trip to Camp Stearns.

The display at the Freeport State Bank focused on advancement and troop outings.

The display at the Central Minnesota Federal Credit Union featured pictures of troop outings.

The display at US Bank showcased 25 years of patches and a few Norman Rockwell prints.

Three Scouts received their First Class Rank during the ceremonies.

Sergio and his parents stood tall as he was recognized for attaining his Life Rank.

The Hawk Patrol surprised some people when they won they Progressive Patrol Award.

The booth displayed many things about Scouting and was quite colorful.

We tried to have 2-3 Scouts in the booth at all times to answer questions from people.

A few of the fair participants even stopped and learned how to tie knots.

The pizzas turned out great.	The totin chip tests were challenging.	A Scout does his duty to God.
Tomahawk throwing was popular.	Even a near miss counts as a hit.	Kicking back and relaxing.
Do you know what a lily pad root looks like?	The guys thought we needed a dock.	One on One stick competition.
The water balloons went a long way.	The winners of the egg drop contest.	Participants in this year's outing.

Bob from the council office came to talk about Friends Of Scouting.

Several of the Scouts received a year pin for their time as a member of the troop.

Brad received the Progressive Scout Award for earning the most advancement.

Fishing from the dock was a popular pastime.	The Scouts had some time to work on their advancement requirements.	Filling water balloons with the pump proved to be a challenge.
The paddle boat was a great way to stay cool during the afternoon.	Of course, the water balloon sling shot had to get some use.	Here is the fine looking crew who attended the outing.

It was a windy day when the Scout set up the booth for the afternoon.

Of course, the guys had to try it out themselves to make sure it worked.

The Scouts even had some time to participate in a couple of the festivities.

Mr. Hellermann, the owner of the land, came out to see how things were going.	The firemen showed us how the heat image gizmo worked and let us try it.	The Scout's tried out the "jaws of life" that fireman use to rescue some people.
Of course, we all wanted to try spraying water from the fire hose.	The troop posed with the two firemen from the Melrose Fire Department.	Later in the afternoon we help a contest to see who was best with the blow gun.

It's the red team vs the green team during some laser tag games.

There's nothing quite like the wind through your hair as you roll around the rink.

The Scouts and their scoutmaster take a moment to discuss clean wheels.

The party began with the Boy Scouts playing games such as cards and Risk.	The Risk game was popular, but unfortunately did not get finished.	A gift exchange was held which used dice to see who would get what gift.
During the gift exchange the Scouts tried to roll doubles to exchange gifts.	Each member of the troop received a gift in addition to the gift exchange.	The party ended with watching a recently released movie on dvd.

The senior patrol leader and scoutmaster went over the agenda for the court of honor before the ceremony began.

As his proud parents stood by his side, one member of the Scout troop received the rank of First Class Scout.

The scoutmaster played the role of the auctioneer as the Scouts bid on various prizes during the annual troop auction.