The Sentinel

Area Boy Scouts to learn welding with local iron workers

merit badges for scouts Saturday’s Merit Badge Day to include hands-on training as Scouts gain skills.

Photo: Bryce Carithers/PEXELS

URBANA - Dozens of area Boy Scouts from across Central Illinois will earn merit badges on Saturday as they learn welding techniques from expert tradesmen who’ve helped build some of the largest and most iconic buildings in the area.

Scouts from the Champaign Holy Cross Boy Scout Troop 9 will learn to weld from 8am to 12pm on Saturday. Another group will do the same from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Iron Workers Local 380, located 1602 Butzow Drive in Urbana.

Scouts will spend about an hour learning welding safety measures, before they put on gloves and goggles and prepare to fuse objects with a welding machine.

Certified welders from Iron Workers Local 380, the area labor union representing nearly 250 local residents, will instruct the scouts on proper techniques and safety.

Local 380, founded in 1923, serves 17 counties in East Central Illinois and West Central Indiana, providing services that include erecting and connecting the skeletons of bridges, stadiums and large structures.

Local 380 is currently accepting applications for their 2024 apprentice class. Those who turn 18 before September are welcome to apply for positions with starting wages of at least $23.45 an hour, guaranteed to climb to $36.08 an hour after four years of on-the-job training.

Applications and more information can be found at www.ironworkers380.org.

Rockets' basketball season abruptly ended after sectional semifinal

SHELBYVILLE - Seven members of the Unity basketball roster delivered some sort of scoring in their semifinal game against Teutopolis in the Shelbyville sectional semifinal game. While beating the Wooden Shoes by 12 in early December last year, the Rockets were unable to repeat the feat, losing 48-39 on Wednesday.

Henry Thomas led Unity's scoring effort with eight points. Sophomore Coleton Langendorf came off the bench to match senior Dalton O'Neill's output of seven points. Another sophomore, Dane Eisenmenger and Andrew Thomas' matched at five points apiece in the season finale.

Unity fell behind early and tied the score four times, the last at 17-all in the second quarter. The Rockets trailed within striking distance to overtake Teutopolis until the last two minutes of play. It was T-town's free-throw shooting down the stretch that propelled the program into the title game.

The Wooden Shoes made fourteen trips to the line in the final quarter and only missed converting on three attempts, despite the Rockets limiting them to only two field goals in the fourth quarter.

Austin Bloemer and Joey Niebrugge paced the Shoes with ten points each. Tyler Pruemer had eight points, while Garrett Gaddis and Alex Kremer finished with eight points apiece.

Teutopolis advanced to Friday's sectional title game in a rematch against St. Joseph-Ogden (27-6), who is enjoying a nine-game win streak. The Wooden Shoes prevailed in the January 9 game, 53-40.

The Rockets finished an impressive 2023-24 campaign with 26 wins against five losses.