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Show SAN JUAN RECORD Wednesday, August 17, 2005 - Page 9 Boy Scouts complete grand adventure on Jamboree, East Coast tour by Lyle Anderson A Boy Scout troop with 18 scouts from Blanding, 12 from Monticello, one from Moab, five relatives of San Juan County scouts, and four adult leaders from Monticel- lo and Blanding recently re- turned from an tour of the eastern United States and the 2005 National Boy Scout Jamboree at Fort A. P. 18-da- y Hill, Virginia. Their trip started at 10 p.m. on July 22, when the first 17 scouts and two leaders got on a bus in Blanding and ended at 3 a.m. on August 10, when the scouts and leaders got off the same bus in Blanding. The intervening days were filled with adventures and learning. The troop flew from Salt Lake City on July 23 and arrived in Washington, D.C., in the late afternoon. The scouts took an evening bus tour of the monuments and government buildings in D.C. The next morning they were off to Arlington Cemetery to see the Kennedy graves and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Washington, D.C. was swarming with scouts, but the troop took an afternoon tour of the Mall from the Lincoln to the Washington Monument. They attended church services near the LDS Temple in Washington, D.C. On Monday morning on the way to the Jamboree, the troop toured the Civil War battlefield at Manassas. Upon arrival at the Jam J boree, they set up camp and gateway. Most of the scouts had never experienced heat and humidity in this combination, but they persevered until camp was essentially complete, about the time sunset brought relief from the heat. Tuesday and Wednesday were filled with Jamboree activities like the Merit Badge Midway, fishing at Fishhook Lake, action centers, rappelling, the Venturing Mine Adventure, and the Order of the Arrow production of Twelve Cubed. The high heat and humid- ity persisted and built until Wednesday afternoon. As they were entering the arena for the opening show with President George W. Bush, the temperatures were 105 and the heat index The troop was expecting to sit in the afternoon sun for two hours waiting to clear security, but the show was canceled after one hour when heat and an approaching thunderstorm persuaded national scout leaders that the risks of continuing were too great. No member of the troop succumbed to the heat, but they saw plenty of others who did. They finally arrived back in camp just in time to batten down the hatches for a severe thunderstorm that collapsed all the tents of a neighboring troop before it dumped buckets of water on the camp. The storm brought a welcome drop in temperatures. 115-12- Coming Soon to Moab Beautiful Brides A Bridal Outlet 0. For the next week, the scouts continued exploring all the available activities, while becoming involved in a new pastime of patch trading. It is difficult to describe the phenomenon to those who have not experienced it. The patch sets purchased by the scouts before the Jamboree, supplemented with additional purchases from the coun- (no gown in stock over $499) Special Order Gowns at 50 off Retail done. Sunday also brought the only arena show of the Jamboree, which included the much anticipated and delayed visit from President Bush, as well as a dazzling show that cil and patches handed out included fireworks, simulated volcanic eruptions, and laby the council and troop leaders, soon had virtually every sers, all choreographed to inmember of the troop involved spiring music. in trading to some degree. As the troop was preparing They found that the Utah to leave the Jamboree on AuNational Parks Council patch gust 2, leaders received word set, with its dinosaur, woolly that buses would not be commammoth and ing to pick them up that aftertradhad a noon as expected to take them tiger motifs, high ing value. The 15 members of to a laundromat and an the troop who had earned the hotel. Jamof before No the rank Eagle complete explanation boree received an Eagle Yoda was ever provided, but the patch from the Marin Coun- controversy appeared to involve the Great Salt Lake cil, perhaps the most coveted Council, Boy Scouts of Ameripatch at the Jamboree. Other councils had patches ca, Western Region, Southern based on airplanes, gunsling- Region (where the troop had ers of the Old West, mountain been housed), the US Army men, the Sobe Lizards, the and the Church of Jesus Halo computer game, trains, Christ of Latter-da- y Saints. counthe and Marvel even Comics, Thus, Popeye, though just about any theme imag- cil had received permission to inable. Jamboree restrictions leave the Jamboree Tuesday, on boys trading with leaders it remained at the site, while were strictly enforced. the Great Salt Lake Council, rewhich hadnt received permisThe week also included of for scouts services sion, departed Tuesday afterligious Scouts and leaders, all faiths. On Sunday, LDS noon. who to had sobered scouts were hear already struck their from the lone adult survivor tents, slept Tuesday night unof the electrical accident that der dining flies to escape the claimed the lives of four scout-er- s abundant dew that accumufrom Alaska. That leader lates as soon as the sun sets. saber-toothe- d ed Jensen Orthodontics Alan C. 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Succeeding days saw tours of the Gettysburg Battlefield, dinner at an Amish style restaurant, and visits to the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and the Rocky Stairs in Philadelphia. In New York City, the scouts saw Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Central Park and Times Square. In addition, they toured Niagara Falls, and LDS Church history sites in Palmyra, New York and Kirt-land, Ohio. Breakfasts while on tour were usually served in an all you can eat buffet. The scouts also enjoyed similar buffets for pizza, hot dogs and spaghetti on different evenings. Most of the scouts claimed the best part, however, was the day spent at Geauga Lake Amusement Park and Kingdom on the penultimate day of the tour. The families and communities who supported the efforts of individuals scouts and groups of scouts to raise the money for the Jamboree and tour deserve recognition. The San Juan District produced one of the 13 Utah National Parks Council troops at the Jamboree, despite being among the smallest of more than 30 districts in the council. It would not have been possible without substantial community support. The next National Boy Scout Jamboree will be held five years from now in 2010, in observance of the 100th anniversary of the beginning of Scouting in the United States Wild-wat- er of America. Recruiting of troop members for that Jamboree will begin two or three years from now. AMVS AUTO 4 35-587-3- 533 East Central Monticello, Utah |
