Serving to afford educational opportunities for others

On Saturday, Nov. 7, Troop 50 Scouts and leaders trekked just outside Auburn to Waverly to provide volunteer support for the 7th annual Kevin Bell Memorial Blast and Cast. As it has in the past, the troop manned two stations — tomahawk tossing and slingshot-shooting — as part of the 15 total stations that pit four-person teams against each other in marksman and outdoor sports feats testing their abilities to shoot slingshots, clays, tactical shotguns, pistols and rifles, as well as throwing tomahawks and knives.

The troop's tomahawk toss station

The tomahawk station tested teams' ability to not only hit a stationary target roughly 12 feet away, but with the precision and force required to cause the tomahawk to stick. Scouts assisted teams by retrieving thrown tomahawks and offering tips on throwing techniques. During the downtime as teams transitioned between stations, troop leaders tried their hands as perfecting multi-tomahawk tosses — efforts that seemed to improve throughout the course of the morning.

The troop's slingshot station

At the slingshot station, teams tested their marksmanship skills by shooting slingshot marbles and paintballs at various stationary and moving targets. Not only were some targets in excess of 20 feet away, many also required careful aim past trees and through branches to score points. Scouts served as "caddies" by holding their slingshot ammunition as well as keeping each shooter's score.

The event has raised funds annually since 2009 in honor of its namesake, Kevin Bell, As a result of this and past efforts, the Blast and Cast has endowed a scholarship in Auburn University's College of Education as well as funded scholarships awarded by the Auburn Veterans Committee and benefiting veterans or their dependents pursuing degrees at Auburn-area post-secondary educational institutions. The 2014 Blast and Cast resulted in a contribution of $6,500 in support of Auburn Veterans Committee scholarships.

In addition to honoring the event's namesake Kevin Bell (pictured center with family), this year's
Blast and Cast also honored former police chief Frank "Buddy" deGraffenreid (pictured left)
and Col. Andrew LaMar Jr. (pictured right)

Kevin Bell, the son of Debbie Allen, passed away in 2010 at the age of 29 after a 22-year battle with Friedreich's Ataxia, a neurological disorder which robbed him of the ability to walk and write by age 11. Having earned two degrees at Auburn and serving as a substitute teacher at Auburn High School, family and friends chose to create scholarships in his name as a means of perpetuating Kevin's own love of education. This year's event also paid tribute to two long-time supporters of the Blast and Cast who passed away in 2015: Col. Andrew LaMar Jr., the father of Blast and Cast organizer Andy LaMar; and Frank "Buddy" deGraffenreid, who served previously as the City of Auburn's chief of police.

For more information about the scholarship fund, visit the fund's page on Facebook, and for more photos from the event, visit the troop's online photo album.

Throwing & shooting for a good cause

On very chilly and breezy Saturday, Scouts and leaders bundled up and joined with other community supporters by volunteering their time in support of the The Kevin Bell Memorial Blast & Cast, a fundraising event held annually that includes a variety of marksman and outdoor sports events in a four-person team, round-robin format. This year's event marked the second year the troop assisted with the event by staffing tomahawk-throwing and slingshot-shooting stations. Other events included various rifle-, shotgun-, and pistol-shooting stations, as well as a knife-throwing station. Highs for the day barely reached the 50s, but with the constant winds throughout the morning, temperatures felt more like the mid-30s through the mid-40s during most of the 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. event.

At the troop's slingshot event, teams tested their marksman's skills shooting both slingshot marbles and paintballs at various stationary and moving targets. Not only were some targets in excess of 20 feet away, many also required careful aim past trees and through branches to score points. Scouts served as "caddies" to each shooter by holding their slingshot ammunition as well as keeping each shooter's score.

At the tomahawk station, teams demonstrated their ability to not only hit a stationary target roughly 12 feet away, but with the precision and force required to cause the tomahawk to stick. Scouts assisted teams by retrieving thrown tomahawks and offering tips on throwing techniques. Those suggestions must have worked, as two participants each hit bulls-eyes five times in nine throws.

The event raises support for the Kevin Bell Memorial Scholarship Fund, which awards scholarships to deserving Auburn High School students pursuing degrees at Auburn University. The event and fund's namesake, Kevin Bell, passed away in 2010 at the age of 29 after a 22-year battle with Friedreich's Ataxia, a neurological disorder which robbed him of the ability to walk and write by age 11. Having earned two degrees at Auburn and serving as a substitute teacher at Auburn High School, family and friends chose to create scholarships in his name as a means of perpetuating Kevin's own love of education. After the proceeds from past Blast & Cast events endowed a scholarship at Auburn University in 2012, the Blast & Cast began in 2013 to fund scholarships awarded by the Auburn Veterans Committee and benefiting veterans or their dependents pursuing degrees at Auburn-area post-secondary educational institutions. For more information about the scholarship fund, visit the fund's page on Facebook.

For more photos from the event, visit the troop's online photo album.

Making service to the community a 'blast'

Troop 50 Scouts and leaders fulfilled the troop's mission of servant leadership and community service by volunteering to staff two events at the Kevin Bell Memorial Scholarship Fund Blast and Cast. The event memorializes Kevin Bell, who passed away in 2010 at the age of 29 from Friedreich’s Ataxia, a neurological disorder which robbed him of the ability to walk and to write by the age 11. Kevin loved education and after pursuing his own education at Auburn University, he taught as his condition allowed as a substitute teacher in Auburn City Schools.

His mother, Debbie Allen, along with friends Andy and Pam LaMar, created the annual event at the LaMar's property in Waverly to fund a scholarship at Auburn University to support deserving Auburn High School students attending Auburn in pursuit of education degrees. With the scholarship fully endowed after the 2012 event, this year's Blast and Cast focused on funding scholarships to support local veterans who wished to return to college to earn a degree.

Troop 50 ran two events -- tomahawk throwing and slingshot shooting -- amid the other events that scored four-man teams numbering nearly 60 competitors on their accuracy with these projectiles and clay shooting,  as well as throwing knives, pistols and rifles. Slingshot shooting was a new, "surprise" event added this year and was left a mystery until teams arrived today for the event.

The Tomahawk Toss crew included (left to right) Troop Committee Chair
Rob Stanford, Scouts Kyle, William and Davis, and Assistant Scoutmaster
J.P. Pendleton.

The Slingshot Shooting crew included (left to right) Scouts John and Mark,
and Assistant Scoutmasters Wade Daniel and Jim Perry.

For more information about the annual Blast and Cast, visit the Kevin Bell Memorial Scholarship Fund page on Facebook, and see more photos from the event in our online photo album.