Davis Rally is key for the Boy Scouts

Just from a numbers’ standpoint, the Davis Rally is a godsend to New Hampton’s Boy Scouts troop.“To take 17 boys to camp next summer is going to cost close to six grand, and without this, that would be tough to do,” Troop 48 Scoutmaster Tony Trower said. “This is huge for us.”This, of course, is the rally that begins its two-day run on Friday, but the reality is it’s a week chock full of work for the scouts and their parents.Scratch that, it’s weeks worth of work for the scouts who handle all the camping arrangements for Davis Rally attendees, sell firewood and clean the bathrooms at Mikkelson Park.Trower said the boys begin work on the rally long before the rally begins; in fact, this year, the Boy Scouts traveled to Split Rock Park to collect firewood.“We chop it and then we spend a few days at my house splitting it and getting it ready to go,” he said.When the first campers arrived on Labor Day, the Boy Scouts were ready for them, and troop members work three-hour shifts throughout the week.For the Davis family, the rally and the Boy Scouts go hand in hand.“I can’t imagine us not having the Boy Scouts with us,” said Gordon Davis Jr., who is one of the coordinators of the annual event that takes place on the weekend following Labor Day. “They do a great, great job for us, and we know how important they are to the Davis Rally.”And those funds help Boy Scouts complete merit badges, attend camps and take part in special activities.The funds raised, however, are only part of the story for the Boy Scouts, for there are lifelong lessons that will be learned at Mikkelson Park this week.“It’s a good lesson in work ethic and dealing with people,” Trower said. “They’re meeting a thousand people they don’t know, and their learning about things like ‘customer service’ and working toward a goal.”For Trower and his scouts, it’s a long week, and when they’ve finished their cleanup chores on Sunday, they will get a day — or at least part of a day — of rest.“We meet a lot of great people,” Trower said, “and for the boys to hear a lot of pleases and thank yous and you’re doing a job, that’s pretty priceless.”