PASO ROBLES — Paso Robles Scout Troops 60 and 1602 loaded handcrafted pallet flags into the back of trucks and cars on Saturday, Nov. 7, at the Scout Hut.

The Troops refurbished the old wood pallets and creatively painted them to look like American flags and sold them to raise funds for activities like summer camp. The pallets were donated and Lowe’s donated paint and supplies.

“We tried to think of a fundraiser that they could do in small groups to match up with the COVID-19 restrictions,” said Rick Unger, Assistant Scoutmaster Troop 60. “This was something that we could set them up and do in small groups. It’s patriotic, which is certainly one of the aims of Scouting. This is an opportunity to help fund some of their activities for the year.”

The pallet flags were sold for $50 and available for pickup on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Scout Hut, officially the Esteemed Eagle Lodge, located at 2247 Oak St. on the corner of Oak and 23rd streets in Paso Robles.

Troop 60 is for boys and Troop 1602 is for girls. There are 45 Scouts in Troop 60 and 20 Scouts in Troop 1602. They are both sponsored by the Rotary Club of Paso Robles. 

“We’ve definitely had a good response,” Unger said. “We have had a great deal of community support, which we greatly appreciate.”

Nearly all of the Troops’ fundraisers and service opportunities were canceled in 2020 due to struggles with meeting COVID-19 guidelines.

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Paso Robles Troop 1602 Scouts Cassidy Gard, left, and Rachel Phillips, load a pallet flag into a car on Saturday at the Scout Hut in Paso Robles. Photos by Brian Williams

“Unfortunately, this year they’ve lost out on most of their traditional fundraisers,” Unger said. “They normally help with parking at the California Mid-State Fair and they do a barbecue. They help with a number of community events that are sometimes fundraisers, sometimes just as service because they do a great deal of service in the community.”

COVID-19 did not take everything away. Veterans Day is Nov. 11, and the local Scouts were out early Saturday morning, putting flags out at the Paso Robles District Cemetery. They will be putting flags up around Downtown Wednesday morning and retrieving them that night.

Unger said the idea for the fundraiser came after seeing Scouts in Texas do something similar.

“When we kicked around some ideas for a potential fundraiser, I tossed this out as an idea and I got a lot of enthusiasm from the Troop, so we went forward with it,” Unger said.

To purchase a pallet flag or learn more about Troop 60 or Troop 1602, email T60andT1602@hotmail.com. Most of the pallet flags measured 40 inches by 42 inches, but some were larger in size.