Boy Scouts Earn Pulp & Paper, Graphic Arts Merit Badges
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 The day before Mother's Day earlier this month, 88 Boy Scouts earned their Pulp and Paper and Graphic Arts merit badges at the International Printing Museum at Carson, Calif., USA. Thanks to the help of more than 30 museum and industry volunteers, including representatives from BurdgeCooper, Mohawk Paper, and the Printing Industries Association of Southern California (PIASC), the boys made paper, silk screened T-shirts, and printed their mom a Mother's Day card that they designed themselves.
Ten groups of boys rotated every half hour to various stations set up around the museum property in order to pass requirements for the two merit badges. One of the requirements was a visit to a paper mill. So, courtesy of xpedx Paper's Nan Fessler, the boys took a video tour of a NewPage paper mill. Dan Freeland of Southwest Offset led the boys on the journey from trees to pulp and paper to printer.
In the museum's parking lot, volunteers helped the boys blend pulp supplied by Mohawk Paper. That pulp was then poured onto wire frames for drying, allowing each boy to take home the paper they made.
Along with making a Mother's Day card, boys who brought a shirt were able to silk screen their own commemorative "Merit Badge Day T-shirt" under the instruction of Art Lindauer. Leland Scott taught the boys about various bindery methods, while Craig Nelson of BurdgeCooper taught the boys how to identify the various types of printing they run across at home and at school. Dennis Howey, a graphic arts professor at Cal State Fullerton, and Bob Lindgren, PIASC president, fulfilled the Graphic Arts Merit Badge requirement of teaching the boys about employment opportunities within the industry.
Saturday was the first of what will be many more Merit Badge Days at the Printing Museum. Currently, there are more than 200 more boys who have signed up for future Merit Badge Days. The next one is set for June 18, and another on October 22.
In the photo, Kari Fry helps a scout print a Mother's Day card.
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