August Cross painstakingly punched a snowflake boarder on a small piece of green construction paper Tuesday night, making sure to get the spacing just right before moving on to twining two sparkly pipe cleaners together to make a hook.
The 8-year-old member of Cub Scout Pack 255 in Mokane wanted to make sure the backdrop for one of his favorite people was perfect before hanging it on the tree for his troop's float for the Fulton Jaycees Christmas Parade on Saturday.
The centerpiece of this carefully-created ornament is a black and white picture of his "papa," Carl Clingman, who served in the Army during World War II.
Cross said he chose to use his papa's photo for the troop's tribute to relatives who have served, or are serving, in the military because "I really like him."
"I do almost everything with him," Cross said of his hero. "We build stuff, we get together to talk, we watch T.V.."
Fellow Scout John Hecktor, 7, chose his great-grandpa, John Masur, whom he was named after.
"He's really fun to play with," Hecktor said, noting Masur served in the Navy during World War II.
Jaden Jennings, 8, brought a photo of his uncle, Bobby Humphrey, who served in Afghanistan.
"He was in the Army just like Chuck (a cousin)," Jennings said, noting it was sometimes scary knowing the two men were in danger, but, "Those two survived every time. He (Humphrey) always comes back."
Eight-year-old Bryce Lander chose to honor his grandfather, Jim Fann, a Navy veteran who served in Vietnam.
"I chose him because I love him," Lander said. "He's fun. I like to ride his four wheeler."
Kendall Evans, 9, also chose his uncle, Rusty McCormack, because of fun times and memories he shares with him.
"He's really fun, I like to go hunting with him," Evans said of his uncle, who has been deployed to Iraq and Korea with the Army's 101st Airborne Division. "The first time we went was last year. We didn't get anything, but it was fun."
Leslie Cross, den leader for Pack 255's wolves (second graders) said she got the idea to feature photos of veterans on this year's float from the Holiday Honor Tree at the Churchill Memorial and Library.
"I saw an article online about the honor tree and thought it would be wonderful for our boys to help decorate that tree while honoring family members," Cross said.
After the parade Saturday afternoon, the troop will take the ornaments to the museum to be placed on the honor tree.
The theme for Pack 255's float this year is the 100th anniversary of Boy Scouting. The tree that will be the centerpiece of the float also will feature handmade popcorn garlands and pine cone bird feeders that also were made by the Scouts Tuesday night.
"I hope everybody likes it," said Cody Renner, 11. "My favorite part is the bird feeders because the birds get to fly on it and pick off the bird seeds."
Harry Glover, 11, said he enjoyed making the various ornaments for the float.
"I just can't wait to be in the Christmas parade and having everyone watch you go down the street," Glover said.
Eleven-year-old Chance Marcum said he is looking forward to being in the parade and "getting exercise."
"I think our float will be good because we worked really hard," Marcum said.
"Our float is going to stand out because of all the Cub Scouts working together to make all types of ornaments," 8-year-old Jackson Gibson agreed.
The parade starts at 1 p.m. Saturday in downtown Fulton.