Members of Boy Scout Troop and Pack 184 were up to their elbows in dough Saturday, making noodles for the upcoming fundraising dinner.

Twelve-year-old Tristan Mitchell, a Scout First Class, fed pieces of rolled out dough into a cutter, as his younger sister Tori caught the emerging strips. Several Scouts were performing similar tasks at other tables, while older members were in the kitchen mixing or rolling out the dough.

Feb. 6 will be the Scouts’ 40th annual Chili and Chicken Noodle Dinner. It will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Elks Lodge, located at 12th and Kansas Ave. in Great Bend. Tickets for dine-in or carry out are $6, and children under 5 years old eat free. The price includes a drink and dessert.

Representative Darwin Schloemer said the Feb. 6 dinner coincides with Scout Sunday, held by Scouts everywhere to celebrate the organization’s founding on Feb. 8, 1910. Boy Scouts is based on the program started by Lord Baden Powell in England on Aug. 1, 1907. Troop and Pack 184 are sponsored by Trinity Lutheran Church, and Schloemer has been helping with this annual dinner since 1981.

"Today we’re making the noodles from scratch," Schloemer said. The day before the dinner, Scouts will cook and debone whole chickens, saving the broth. They’ll be at the Elks early the next day to start cooking.

Scout Master Melissa Pedigo said they start with 30 dozen eggs and 200 pounds of flour for making noodles. "We usually end up with 64 one-gallon bags of dry noodles.

People can call Pedigo at 797-4359 to order one-gallon containers. The cost is $12 for a gallon of chicken noodle soup or $18 for a gallon of chili.