The official fruit of America’s Independence Day celebration is watermelon – at least, for those who are lucky enough to live in the Deep South.

Knowing that, Boy Scout Troop 41 in Troy decided that “unloading” a load of ripe, red, sweet-as-sugar watermelons would be the perfect fund-raiser for the troop for the Fourth of July.

But, first, they had to locate the perfect melon patch.

It wasn’t as hard as it seemed. The troop didn’t have to look any farther than one of their own. Scout Caleb Green’s dad, Luke Green, has a watermelon patch at Banks that would fill the need.

Luke Green readily agreed to supply watermelons for the scouts’ fund-raiser and to offered to physically load the melon wagon with one condition – that the scouts would do the “unloading.”

“I’ll leave it up to the boys to sell the watermelons,” Green said, laughing.

The scouts will have a big load of watermelons for sale from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at First United Methodist Church in Troy, which sponsors the Scout troop.

The watermelons are Star Brites and are guaranteed to be deliciously sweet.

“With the weather so dry, the melons aren’t as big as they normally would be but they are probably sweeter than they would be,” said Dan Dykes, an Eagle Scout who is assisting the Scouts with the fund-raiser. “The patch was irrigated and has produced really good watermelons.”

The watermelons will weigh about 25 pounds and will sell for $10 each. The money raised will support the programs of Boy Scout Troop 41.

“Selling watermelons for the Fourth of July was a good idea as a fund-raiser,” said Scoutmaster Dr. David Runyon. “Troop 41 is growing. The number of scouts has almost doubled in size recently. We now have 23 scouts who are active and interested in the different events and opportunities offered through scouting.”

Runyon said several of the scouts are hoping to visit Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico next summer.

“We’ll have several fund-raisers to help these scouts attend Philmont and other camps, and to support our scouting program in general,” he said.