[This is the 3rd of 4 posts about the National Scout Jamboree]
Dear Friends,
Two weeks ago, I was in West Virginia, at the 2017 Boy Scout National Jamboree. As I ended the last post, we were about to welcome the thousands of participants to the Jamboree.
On Wednesday, we quickly made our way to the Summit Center, where the LDS Exhibit and merit badge tents were located. We had limited shuttles for the 3-mile trip, as the busses were diverted to getting the 40-50,000 Scouts and leaders from the Jamboree entrance to their respective camp sites.
Excitement was in the air, as we strolled past Goodrich Lake, on the way to our areas. Goodrich was the site of a ton of water sports activities through the duration of the Jamboree (more on that later).
The boys started flooding in. At the entrance to our exhibit, we had a map of the U.S. (it also included a small map of the globe). We asked everyone to pin a small flag on their home location. By the end of the Jamboree, this was mostly covered - I'll show you an image later.
This is what my daily routine looked like. Here I am, working with groups of Scouts, leaders and staff members to earn the Compass Award (explained in the last blog post). We kept busy almost every hour of every day that the Duty To God Tent was open:
That's me in the background - you know, the bald head. I believe this picture was used for an article in the Deseret News
Back in our tent, the days are filled with working on the Compass Award, for anyone that wants to try and earn it.
We started each day with a devotional - a way to not only keep the group organized, but to try and bring the Spirit into everything that we wanted to accomplish. We were visited by one of the counselors in the Church General Young Men Presidency - Doug Holmes. He gave a great talk, and I had the chance to chat with him for a while, before we opened the exhibit.
My work in the LDS exhibit was incredibly rewarding. I came into contact with young men and women from around the world. While this was a national jamboree, we had visitors from South Korea, Algeria, Poland, Egypt, Japan and Curacao. I loved working with these kids - and their leaders - watching them work hard to earn the Compass Award:
I ran into these two boys. They used to live in Austin, but moved to New Jersey last year...and they came and found me ; )
I then had another memorable experience. I attended my very first Islamic prayer service. I was invited by the Muslims who I had built the mosque for. It was fascinating to listen and watch.
I captured a small portion on video. I watched as other Muslims did the same, to make sure I wasn't violating any sacred customs:
I was humbled to listen to quotations from the Quran, in both English and Arabic. At the conclusion of the meeting, they honored those that helped build the mosque and presented me with a special Scout neckerchief.
Each day brought new experiences and things to see. However, some things never changed ; ) Port-o-pottys were a part of the daily grind...and you can image what these were like when you combine 50,000 youth and the West Virginian sun ; )
During the afternoon, the military held training exercises on Goodrich Lake, with helicopters, and frogmen conducting life-saving practice:
Back at our tent, we never let up...engaging with people all day long. We were certainly busy, and it made the days just fly by....
Around the rest of the Jamboree, youth could participate in what seemed to be a limitless number of activities. As the Summit Bechtel Reserve was over 15,000 acres in size...there were activities for every area of interest. Here are just a few pictures from BSA photographers that captured some of them:
As you can imagine - I could post hundreds of other pictures. I think that those that have never been to a Jamboree don't realize just how much there is to offer. I didn't even show all the STEM activities ; )
That night was the big "opening show" that officially welcomed all the participants. They packed nearly 50,000 people into the outdoor stadium. Just walking towards the stadium presented an amazing view. As you got closer, all the colors of the various troops and Scout units became clearer:
I sat near the top of the hill, and tried to get some shots of the crowd. As hard as I tried, the pictures just don't fully convey how big that group was. It was inspiring to see so many Scouts from around the nation - and world:
One of the more amazing things was to watch so many recite the Scout Oath and Law, all together. Something you definitely won't forget....
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