GimletBlog

I looked out the window and what did I see?
The back yard has turned into a Scout Jamboree!
The Scoutmaster brought me such a big surprise:
Tents popping up right before my eyes!
Would the shipping container produce a treat
Wet, hot gear that would smell so sweet?
That wasn’t really so …
But it seems to me
The back yard has turned into a Scout Jamboree.

(With apologies to Popcorn Popping)

We should probably explain:  after the jamboree, all of the troop gear, which was brand new for the jamboree, was available for purchase at a heavily discounted rate.  As this was a great opportunity to replace and upgrade our home troop’s equipment, The Gimlet was able to get a dining fly, five of the two-man tents, and two propane cook stoves.  The patrol boxes were also available; Thing One’s Eagle patrol box had already been spoken for, but the Bear patrol box was still up for grabs, so The Gimlet grabbed.

On the last night of the jamboree, the troop packed up most of their gear so it could be easily loaded into the shipping container the following morning.  At about 3:00 in the morning, a large thunderstorm rolled through, drenching all the boys (most of whom had chosen to sleep out under the stars, as their tents were packed), their duffel bags, and the gear.  There was no way to dry out the gear before it had to be loaded, so the wet bags and equipment sat in the shipping container for a week in the 100° Virginia heat before arriving in Seattle last Friday.

Aren’t you glad that these photos are not scratch-and-sniff?

Your Humble Narrator is not usually fond of hot weather, but our recent heat wave is perfect for drying and airing out camping gear, so we hope the sun stays around for the week.

After the Gimlet Patrol was assembled, we asked Thing One, just returned from Camp Parsons, if he would prefer to continue sleeping outdoors, as he has spent nearly his entire summer doing so.  He declined.

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Last Thursday morning Thing One arrived home from the National Jamboree.  He picked up the sharp hat at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.   He also brought home two memory cards filled with pictures, some of his souvenirs (others, including most of his patches, were packed in the container which arrives in one week), new friends, and many stories to share.

But before we could extract a blog post from him (much less sort through the pictures), he was on his way out the door again, this time for a week at Camp Parsons with his scout troop.  We barely had time to wash and dry his uniforms and gear before they had to be repacked.

Will we catch up with him before he heads off to NYLT staff?

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The 2010 National Jamboree ended yesterday, and Thing One’s troop was scheduled to leave early this morning.  They will spend the day at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, then fly home to Seattle on Thursday.  We’re eager to hear Thing One’s stories and see his photos.  Until then, here are a few final glimpses of the Jamboree.

We’ve been impressed by how orderly and sharp the troop has looked in the photos.  The scoutmaster reports that the scouts have been learning how to work as teams and how to be effective leaders.  They have learned to count on each other and be counted upon.

Friday evening the troop had a very special guest:  President Charles Dahlquist, the recently released LDS General Young Men’s President and head chaplain for the National Jamboree.  President Dahlquist, his executive secretary, and two other LDS chaplains ate dinner with the troop, then held a special devotional service for the two LDS troops from Chief Seattle Council.  President Dahlquist spoke with the boys about making the decision to serve a mission, effective scripture study, and quite a bit about how they should treat girls and how to honor and respect them.

All but one troop member earned the George Albert Smith award, offered by the LDS church at the Jamboree to scouts of all backgrounds who wished to earn it.

The Centennial Celebration arena show was held Saturday night, with approximately 70,000 in attendance at the arena.

Thing One isn’t much of a night owl; he looks worn out after the long, fun day.

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This is the extremely impressive gateway for Thing One’s troop, carved by the parents of two of the scouts in the troop. The thunderbirds at the top represent his troop, and the four animals underneath are the four patrols: Eagle, Bear, Orca, and Elk. The scoutmaster reports that visitors come from all over the Jamboree just to see (and photograph), touch, and smell the cedar totem poles.

One of the assistant scoutmasters shared the Makah tradition of the totem pole with the troop:

The Makah Indians would touch or slap the totem pole each time they left the village as a symbol to the ancestors to watch over them while they were gone.  Then, when they returned, they touched it again to say they had safely returned.  The tradition may also have included in the reason that the person was leaving and since the totem represented the life of his ancestors, that touching it was the symbol of having honor and that they would be honorable in all they did outside of their village and when they returned, they reported that they had returned with honor.

We discussed this with troop, and since each patrol has their personal symbol on the totem, as each member of their patrol leaves, they pat, touch or slap their personal totem on the pole.  It also brings good luck, so when ever a visitor comes, the troop tells them to touch the totem as they enter, and of course, the Orca patrol tells them to touch the Orca and the Bear patrol yells to touch the Bear.

(Read the troop blog for the rest of the story of the gateway.)

The troop has settled in, set up camp, and are having a wonderful time.  They’re having so much fun that they’re not posting much for now, but the official Jamboree site is full of slide shows and videos so those of us at home can keep up.  Some members of our troop show up in the Day 3 Flickr Gallery!

For fun, the scoutmaster has posted a photo quiz for parents on the troop blog: which messy campsite belongs to your son? Answers will be posted at the end of the jamboree, but we’re not sure we want to know.

Fun fact from the official Jamboree site:

Every day, seven tractor trailers leave a Pennsylvania food facility to deliver 44,000 freshly prepared picnic lunches to feed hungry Scouts and Scouters.

Thing One called earlier this week from the free cell phone kiosk to wish Thing Two a happy birthday, since he won’t be home for the big day.  He has already traded several patches, sampled a few of the activities, and had a ticket to see the Technology Quest exhibit later that day.

This is the set of Jamboree patches from our council, plus the special patches commemorating 100 years of Scouting.  The scouts received the large red halibut patch in the center when they signed up to attend the Jamboree.  Thing One is in the thunderbird troop (red patch).  The other LDS troop from our council is the whale troop (silver patch).  The other troops are represented by other Northwest animals:  seal (blue), salmon (green), heron (yellow) and sea otter (tan).  Above the Jamboree patches are the Order of the Arrow and Chief Seattle Council anniversary patches.

More reports and photos from the Jamboree as we receive them …

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Thing One’s troop arrived at the Jamboree on Monday, and after setting up camp they have been exploring all the activities, exhibits, and other fun the Jamboree has to offer.  Before the Jamboree, the scouts enjoyed four days around Washington, D.C., touring several monuments and historic sites.  Again, many thanks to the scoutmasters, troop historian, and webmaster of Troop 749 for sharing their photos and stories.

• Official Jamboree web site
• Thing One’s troop blog, updated daily with photos

On their first day in DC, the troop had tickets to go to the top of the Washington Monument and toured the Capitol Building and National Archives.  With an attorney as scoutmaster, a troop photo at the Supreme Court was in order.  A special Marine Barracks parade that evening was a grand end to the day.

(more…)

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Thing One’s jamboree troop is posting daily journal entries and photos on their web site!  We’re enjoying the opportunity to follow along with Thing One and learn about what he’s seeing and doing.  The troop’s webmaster granted permission for us to share some of the troop photos on GimletBlog.  View a larger image by clicking on it.  We hope you’ll visit the troop’s web site too and read the great stories that go along with the pictures.

On Tuesday the troop had the opportunity to visit LDS Church historic sites around Palmyra, New York.  They toured the Joseph Smith farm, the Sacred Grove and Hill Cumorah, and the grounds of the Palmyra Temple.  They also visited the E.B. Grandin Press, where the Book of Mormon was first published, and the Peter Whitmer farm, where Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon from the plates and the LDS Church was organized on April 6, 1830.  These photos were taken just before a special devotional in the Sacred Grove, and later at the Palmyra Temple.

The troop also visited a Civil War battlefield site, and took pictures of the patrols.  Looks like this cannon needs a little Blue Steel, courtesy of Thing One.

All this, and we’re not even at the National Jamboree yet.  More adventures to come!

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After a year of preparation, pre-jamboree campouts and shakedowns, and long evenings sewing countless patches on the new jamboree uniforms, the big day is finally here!

This morning The Gimlet took Thing One to the airport, where he met up with his National Jamboree troop.  Two members of our troop are attending the Jamboree.

The two LDS troops from our council will spend a week touring LDS historic sites as well as Gettysburg and Washington, DC before settling in at for nine days of fun at the jamboree.  Thing One is looking forward to meeting up with his friends around the country from last year’s Philmont trek and NAYLE.

The Gimlet has very fond memories of his National Jamboree and dearly wishes he could go, too.  Maybe when it’s Thing Two’s turn.

• Follow along with the troop blog!
  Daily (or near-daily) journal entries will be posted on the troop’s web site.
• Gimlet Gallery Jamboree album
• Official BSA National Jamboree web site
• Chief Seattle Council LDS Jamboree troops web site

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Visit the WashJam photo album in the Gimlet Gallery.

On August 20, 2009, my troop went in to Fort Lewis for WashJam. There were about 6,000 people who came to this camp.

There were activities like the mountain man area, where there was caber tossing, shot put, and knife throwing. They also had tomahawk throwing and archery, but those were either closed or had a long line.  Other fun activities were gold panning and blacksmithing.

On Friday I worked at a pizza stand to raise money for my 2010 Jamboree troop.  While trying to get rid of the last pizzas of the day, the whole pizzas had dropped in price since the afternoon from $18.00 to $10.00. at one point while walking through camp I made advertisement for the pizza. “oh wow, camp food! It may be charred on the outside! It may be raw on the inside! But at least it’s got that special outdoor flavor! … of lighter fluid! Mm-mm, when do we eat? Come and buy your troop whole pizzas for $10.00!” it was easy to work with the troop in the stand as runner (brings to the table the order) and as stocker (brings pizza from truck to stand and carries signs about the pizza and specials.

There was music at the end of the day at the stage, which the staff had built at Fort Lewis.  The rental equipment was bad and shocked one person, and there was nothing in between shows for a few minutes, but some of the songs were still good.

On Saturday I went to the NYLT staff meeting, which talked about when they would know who the staff would be, and when the dates of the staff meetings would approximately be. We also got to talk to who would be staff, which was fun. Later, WashJam had an inspirational speech at the stage at night.

Sunday was church all day. They had sacrament meeting at the stage for all 1,600 LDS troop members. After the priesthood meeting, there was dinner, breaking camp, and a fireside with talks. After the fireside, we finished up breaking camp and left.

I liked going to WashJam.  It was fun to especially do the mountain men area, and I liked the Order of the Arrow museum, and the booths about different camps, like Camp Sheppard and its High Adventure program. There were lots of things to buy at the stores.  It was fun to see people that I got to know from OA, NYLT, and Camp Parsons earlier this year.

If your troop goes to a future WashJam, see everything you can, and do as much as you can, because there’s not enough time to do all the activities. Sometimes it was hot and sometimes it rained, so troops should bring a pop up canopy.  It’s also a good idea to bring folding chairs so you don’t have to sit on the ground, and lots of food for breakfast and after the stands close.  I would recommend troops go to the next WashJam because it is fun to be with so many scouts and there are activities to do there that you usually cannot do in your home area with just your troop.

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