w/art "anthonyminer.jpg" furnished by his mom.



By M. Scott Carter

Transcript Staff Writer

MOORE -- Anthony Miner may be short.

And yeah, he's pretty shy.

He's not big on girls, either, "cause they're 'icky.'"

But when it comes to selling popcorn, Anthony Miner brings his A-game.

In fact, he's in a league of his own.

At the age of 11, Anthony holds the title of Top Popcorn Salesman for the Last Frontier Council of Boy Scouts -- the central Oklahoma scouting organization that covers 24 counties across the state.

Say, about 30,000 scouts.

And, popcorn-wise, Anthony outsells them all.

He does it the old-fashioned way. No special gimics. No unique sales pitch. Just a lot of walking, talking and more walking.

"It's hard work," he says. "I walk around a lot with my mom. We just walk around to different houses."

His results are impressive.

Last September, Anthony sold a staggering $8,014 worth of popcorn for his Boy Scout troop -- in two months.

"We worked every night and all day on weekends, too," his mother, Sue, said. "We went all over Moore."

Leveraging his mom's driver's license, and his own extensive experience on the popcorn beat, Anthony has earned several sales awards, including:

2006 top seller for the Last Frontier Council.

2006 top seller for the Sooner Scout District.

2005 top seller for the Sooner Scout District.

2004-2007 top seller for his local scout troop, 291.

And he doen't plan on retiring anytime soon.

"He smiles and talks to people," his mom said. "And, if they have questions, he knows the answers. He's a good seller."

Obviously.

Anthony's method calls for targeting a neighborhood for at least two to three hours of door-to-door work each night, and about four to six hours of face contact on weekends.

Then the process starts over at another neighborhood.

"We drive to each neighborhood, park and then walk around," Sue said. "Then we go to another neighborhood and do the same thing."

Occasionally, they take a break.

"Sometimes we would cut our time short and go to the movies," Anthony said.

And, he never knocks on doors after 8 p.m.

"People don't like to answer the door after 8," his mom said. "So we didn't go after that time."

Those sales have earned money for the Boy Scouts and prizes for their top salesman.

In addition to banking about $1,500 in prize money for his scout fund, Anthony has earned most of his camping gear through popcorn. "I got a camel pack (sorta like a canteen) and a bunch of stuff for camping," he said. "I also got a sleeping bag, lantern and a compass."

Then there's the trophy -- which is much taller than its owner -- and an official hockey stick from Doug Sauter, head coach of the Oklahoma City Blazers.

And while selling $8,000 worth of popcorn may be one thing, delivering that popcorn is another issue altogether.

"We got pretty good about getting it delivered right now," Anthony's mom said. "It only took a couple of days, maybe three full days, of delivering to get it all done."

No big deal. After all, Anthony and his family have been doing the popcorn thing for years.

A fifth-grade honor student at Kelley Elementary School in Moore, Anthony has also worked his way up through the scout ranks from Webelos and Cub Scouts, up to Boy Scouts.

And some of that scouting ability, he came by naturally. His dad, Stephen, is an Eagle Scout. And Anthony's sisters -- Kacy and Montana -- are Girl Scouts.

"He's very focused," his mom said. "He sets his sights on what he's gonna do and he does it."

You might say that scouting -- and popcorn -- are in his blood.

And while Anthony might find that his toughest competition comes from himself, he can still count on his biggest fan: His mom.

"I tell him that to be successful you have to smile, be outgoing, have a good attitude," she said. "And not give up."

And it also helps if you like popcorn.

"We have lots of popcorn at home," he said. "We eat it almost every day."

M. Scott Carter 366-3545 scarter@normantranscript.com