The Sash of Cache

An Ode to the Scout Sash of Cache

(with apologies to Dr. Suess)

By Margot Gardiner

This poem tells the story of a boy named Cache.

He has EVERY merit badge on his long Scout Sash.

The number of badges is One-Hundred-Twenty-Nine!

(I would have given up, if that challenge were mine.)

Sewing all those badges, his mom's fingers must be sore.

She un-stitched and re-sewed them, more times than four!

The cycling badge sent him (face first) into a TREE!

Removing branch pieces from his cheek required TWO surgeries!

He once trained a dog, and learned how to Scuba.

He fixed farm equipment, and learned calls on the Bugle.

He collected stamps and coins, and insects, and dice.

More than 150 miles, he did backpack and hike!

He learned Morse code, and paddled canoes.

He made a geo-cache, and rode horses with shoes.

He ran a business, raised turtles, and caught lots of fish.

Using a pottery wheel, he sculpted a dish.

He WAS almost done, just FOUR badges left to score.

But in 2010, they added EIGHT MORE!

At one point, he created an archeological dig.

Cache worked really hard! His determination was BIG!

He did lots of research on many different topics,

Made a movie, shot guns, and even launched a rocket!

He went to landfills and treatment plants, banks and museums,

When he finished, the Utah Senate gave him STANDING OVATIONS!

The Grand Canyon is wide, carved by rivers of power.

There's the Great Wall of China, and the tall Eiffel Tower.

At Niagara Falls, the water makes a huge splash.

But more impressive than ALL THAT, is the Scout Sash of Cache!

(We LOVED this, Margot!)

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One more thing about all these merit badges . . .a man in our ward signed off one of his last badges. He asked Cache, "So what is it that you like to do now that you've had all of these experiences?" Cache told him he liked earning merit badges. That seems like a strange answer unless you really know Cache. His main love in life is learning. He is truly a scholar by every definition. He is a voracious reader of many topics. He excels in school not to be the top but because he is hungry to learn. He is one kid who is going to LOVE college! (As a side note, some of the badges Cache enjoyed have been scuba, rock climbing, water and snow skiing, archery, model design & building and journalism.)