One aspect of Boy Scouts is community service and every year on July 4th, Scouts all over America demonstrate this. Here in Santa Barbara as part of Troop 26, Nathan and several of his fellow scouts help set up and take down garbage and recycle bins up and down State Street for the annual 4th of July parade.

Nathan and other scouts from Troop 26 setting up for the Santa Barbara 4th of July parade.

It’s great seeing Nathan and his friends in their full Class A uniforms doing this community service. They looked very sharp, were well behaved and in general, represented Troop 26 (and their families) very well.

Getting ready to walk

After the setup was done, some of the scouts headed over to actually walk down State Street with scouts from other troops and carry a very large American Flag. This was a really fun opportunity and they allowed parents and siblings of the scouts to participate as well. This was a huge deal to Devyn!

The boys took their places to carry the flag down State Street.

That is one big flag!

Marching down State Street

Not a whole lot of commentary coming up as I think the pictures speak for themselves. 🙂

Another group in front of us showing their spirit.

That’s our boy.

Devyn looks back while marching in the parade.

Troop 26 proudly leading the way for the Los Padres Council.

Along the way, if the scouts weren’t carry the flag, one of the Scout Masters graciously purchased USA stickers to hand out to the crowd.

Nathan handing out some USA stickers.

At one point, a young boy who was with his family watching the parade stood up and approached Nathan. He was so excited to see Nathan’s scout uniform.

This boy was very impressed with Nathan and his scout uniform.

And next, he asked if he could have his picture taken with Nathan. And being a good scout (and a good kid in general), Nathan gladly complied with the request. I hope he smiled for their camera – because he rarely smiles for mine!

And wanted his picture taken with Nathan. It was so awesome.