Charlo Boy Scout holds concert, cares for hungry
Nicole Tavenner
Josiah Pettit plays the piano. He plans to hold a concert benefitting the Ronan Bread Basket as his Eagle Scout Project.
Nicole Tavenner
Josiah Pettit plays the piano. He plans to hold a concert benefitting the Ronan Bread Basket as his Eagle Scout Project.
Nicole Tavenner
Rachael and Josiah Pettit will perform on June 7.
Nicole Tavenner
Josiah Pettit plays the piano. He plans to hold a concert benefitting the Ronan Bread Basket as his Eagle Scout Project.
Nicole Tavenner
Josiah Pettit plays the piano. He plans to hold a concert benefitting the Ronan Bread Basket as his Eagle Scout Project.
Nicole Tavenner
Josiah Pettit
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CHARLO – Charlo Boy Scout Josiah Pettit hopes his talented fingers will tickle beautiful tunes from the piano to draw in a big enough crowd to make a dent in hunger in Lake County.
The 11th grader and Life Scout is hosting a concert as part of his Eagle Scout project with his sister, Rachael, on Sunday, June 7 at 4 p.m. at Mission Valley United Methodist Church. Admission charge for the concert will be non-perishable food items that will be donated to the Ronan Bread Basket. Pettit is musically inclined, and has been playing the piano for 13 years. He also plays the violin and guitar. He wanted to put the talents to a dual cause: help fight hunger and earn the top scouting rank.
“The Bread Basket currently feeds at least 200 families per month but that number is rising,” Pettit said. “Because the numbers of hungry people are increasing, and the amount of available food is decreasing, they are having to give out less food than they would like to.”
Becoming an Eagle Scout requires Pettit to earn 21 merit badges and complete a service project that benefits a school, religious institution, or community before his 18th birthday. Only 5 percent of Boy Scouts earn the rank of Eagle Scout.
Troop leader Ernie Foust said he was a bit skeptical that the idea would work at first, but that Pettit has him convinced the plan will likely succeed.
“I was skeptical at first, but the more he’s gotten involved, I think it’s going to be a really nice project,” Foust said. “He’s a phenomenal piano player. He and his sister are unbelievably good. From what I understand he was going to try to get the food bank people to talk to the people attending the concert. I think it will be a pretty good project.”
Foust said Pettit is a leader among the scouts.
“He’s a gentle guy,” Foust said. “He’s just about as nice and as easy going as can be, a real nice and unassuming kid.”
Fresh fruit will be accepted at the concert, in addition to non-perishable food items.
