Local Scouts go gaga

Jake Wilke, 15, Life Scout in Troop 1903 of Lakeside (Chartered through Lakeside Chapel) completed a GaGa Ball Pit at Lakeside Elementary School as his Eagle Scout Project. Jake raised the funds, planned and completed the project in November. First Interstate Bank of Lakeside and Sliters in Somers, made generous donations.

Pictured here, from left to right: Kristy Wilke, Seb Brewster, Trevan McDowell, Max Russell, Nathan Russell, Jake Wilke, KT Wilke, and Evan Hendrickson.

FOOD DRIVE

On Nov. 8, the same troop conducted a food drive for the Veteran’s Food Pantry of Kalispell at Smith’s.

They collected food for Thanksgiving baskets for Veterans in the Flathead Valley. Several hundred pounds of food were donated by the generous people of Kalispell. Thanks to Smith’s for allowing us to serve at their store. Visit bigforkbeagle.com for more Scouting news.

Just a little about GaGa Ball

GaGa Ball is believed to have originated in Israel, and slowly spread across the U.S over several decades. Ga means “hit” or “touch' in Hebrew. In the rules of GaGa ball, the ball must touch the ground two times before it is considered in play, hence the name. GaGa Ball consists of a lightweight bouncy ball and an octagon enclosure known as the “GaGa Ball Pit.” The object of the game is to hit the ball at or below opponents’ knees to eliminate them from the pit. The last one left in the GaGa Ball Pit is the winner.

What makes GaGa Ball great is that kids of any size, age, or athletic ability can play and have the same chance to win as anybody else, Game generally last only a few injures, and eliminated players are back in the action quickly. Once a player is out, they can have as much fun watching and cheering while the other players finish off the game. Then a new game starts all over, and you’re back in the action again.