steve's big adventure

Every four years over one thousand adults agree to Scoutmaster a Jamboree troop. Well over two years ago I agreed to serve as one of three Scoutmasters responsible for taking 108 Boy Scouts to the National Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill near Fredericksburg, Virginia. I’d done this twice before: in 1997 as an Assistant Scoutmaster responsible for equipment and in 2001 as Scoutmaster.

This being my third Jamboree experience I knew what I was getting into. An extended period of recruiting 108 kids to shell out each $1,950 to participate. Account for a budget of over $218,000. Gather up all the equipment we would need and transporting it to and from a warehouse and loading in on a truck to be hauled to Virginia. Almost every piece of equipment we used needed to be loaded into something eight times before the trip was over: 130 cots, 62 tents, 15 dining flys, 12 patrol cook boxes, 490 tent poles, 528 tent pegs, 120 give-gallon buckets, etc. Make arrangements with motels, bus lines, and freight companies. Plan an itinerary. Recruit some more kids to take the places of kids who dropped out for one reason or another. Attend meetings. lots of meetings.

After two years of planning and grunt work we loaded our kids on a bus and hit the road. The fun begins.

The following block of text and ensuing blogs are verbatim notes kept in a personal journal during the trip. Editor’s notes and explanations, as needed, are in italics.

7/20, Wednesday Depart Little Rock at 8:10 am. Troop 1727, all present and in the bus at 7:50. 1726 thought they were missing two kids. 1725 dawdled and dawdled. I hope we didn’t leave any kids behind. First DVD was Monty Python’s Search For The Holy Grail. Brief shower west of Nashville. Overnight at Holiday Inn in Knoxville.

7/21, Thursday Depart at 8:10. Half of Blank Patrol was still asleep at bus rendezvous time. Patrol Leader picked up trash at Mac’s during breakfast and was reminded to be on time next am. Last night’s motel hosted us as well as 100+ little girls between the ages of 10 and 14. Either a swim meet or cheerleader training or gymnastic exhibition. Their chaperones taped their doors shut at 10:00. If they opened their door they broke the tape and got busted. Most of the rooms had a king and a fold-out single – not double doubles as promised. Watched Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Be excellent to each other became our motto. Driving through the hills of northern Virginia, I can see why Lee’s army fought so hard and were so passionate about states’ rights. It’s really beautiful here. Reminds me of the Ozarks except more compact. Food to date has been two six-inch subs, one chicken burger, one banana muffin, some coffee, and a couple of sodas. Will do buffet for dinner tonight; same one we ate at four years ago. Having some uniform problems, hats and untucked shirts. will discuss it at Patrol Leaders Council meeting.

7/22, Friday Breakfast was crispy cremes and milk. Busses dropped us off at Constitution and 1st and we walked up hill to Dirksen Building. Went through security and found Senator Lincoln’s office. We all got cards and stickers and were divided into groups of 14 for tour of Capitol. Rode underground “train” between Dirksen and Capitol. Tour went well, very brief: tour guide grew up in North Little Rock and was in Troop 43. No water bottles of back-packs in Capitol. Ok in Dirksen. when we got back to Senator’s office alarms went off and we got evacuated. Some kids were still on tour, some were back, some were trapped in elevators. Scout’s were only ones who didn’t panic during evacuation. I stood on landing of fire escape steps and encouraged everybody to walk. Senate aids and staffers were visibly shaken. Maybe they are more susceptible to it living there every day. After we tracked everybody down we scattered toward the Mall. Dr. J and I went straight to new National Museum of American Indian. An excellent choice, well worth a return visit. One kid was AWOL at rendezvous time. He found us as we were looking for him. Back to buffet for dinner. Must stock up on green food before Monday. Due to some shenanigans last night (from troop 1726 as we found out later) we threatened any trouble makers with plane ticket home speech. no more second chances. At 10:45 all quiet.

7/23, Saturday Last night was real quiet. Breakfast at Mac’s then back to motel to swap rooms. Adults had to switch from singles to double/doubles. First room was a smoking room which was later swapped for non-smoking. Went to Arlington Cemetery and saw both Kennedy grave sites, changing of the guard, Lee-Custis house, and Iwo Jima memorial. I asked the lady ay Lee-Custis House which biography of Lee was best: she recommended Freemen’s. Then went to Smithsonian’s Air and Space annex at Dulles airport. Hundreds of planes on display from earliest to space shuttle and all in between. ESPN Zone for dinner was big success. Food was simple but good buffet and kids got to play arcade games for an hour or so. Before getting back to motel we did WWII Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Korean War Memorial and Lincoln Memorial. They are lit spectacularly at night.

7/24. Sunday Another good night: plane ticket talk was real success. Crispy cremes and milk in the parking lot then off to Sharpsburg, Maryland to tour the battlefield at Antietem Creek. Did Church service at the park. Watched a movie based on Lincoln’s visit to McClelland at the battlefield after the engagement was over. Antietem was single bloodiest day of entire Civil War. Saw group of reenactors go through marching and firing drills. Ray did an excellent job arranging for Antietem trip. Sub sandwiches for lunch and back to D.C. to see National Cathedral. Got there too late for tour because Bill the Bus Driver got REAL BAD lost trying to find it. Did Pizza Hut, Chucky Cheese, and Wendy’s for dinner. Got back to motel in time to gather up uniform shirts and send team of adults to laundermat. At least each of the kids will show up to the Jamboree with a clean shirt. Caught three kids from 1726 filling plastic bags w/ soapy water and dropping them off balcony. Repeat of night before. I would have called their parents. Their adults gave second chances (one of a continuing series of “second” chances). Big day tomorrow. Off to Jamboree and set up camp. will be interesting to see how 1726 performs. Adults have been handing out second chances like popcorn and shepherding the kids around like mother hens. Troop is in good shape. We’ve figured out which kids need to be watched with a little extra vigilance and which ones can take care of situations as they arise. Three youngest are doing fine and need no extra supervision. We’ve got a couple who need reminders to do simple things like eat and breathe. Three other Troop 1727 leaders are great to work with. I got real lucky w/ this group. We’re a little more laid back than leadership of 1725 and 1726. Attitude reflects leadership!