ATTENTION!!!
Please make sure all Webelos and younger Boy Scouts AND their parents are aware that $50 will hold their son's reservation to the 2005 National BSA Jamboree at Fort AP Hill in Virginia.
Why is this so important? Because the next jamboree will not be for another 5 years - to coincide with the 100th anniversary of scouting - or something like that, and...
that means if your son does not go in 2005 HE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GO AS A SCOUT BECAUSE HE WILL BE TOO OLD.
In 2010 he must be under 18 years old, else he will not be able to go as an boy scout participant.
The council has two troops going - one is a touring troop which will travel to NY and Pennsylvania - the second troop will only go to the jamboree. The costs is $2800 and $2100, payable in 6 equal payments, one every 90 days.
BUT: the touring troop only has a few spaces available. Scouts secure their spots on a first come basis.
IF enough boys sign up in the next 120 days - it is possible another touring troop will be added - but that depends on YOU. As a parent and a Scout leader -let me assure you this is an experience your boy will not want to miss. Do not let money be a factor. If you let me know your son needs to earn 1/2 or more of the monies needed I will help find him summer employment and actively help organize fund raising projects for his troop.
For more information see the link below and/or call Ken Daniel at 674-6100
Sherry Nolan
Aklan District Activities a & Civic Service Chair
Since the Council has put together such a nice Jamboree webpage, we're not going to duplicate the same work on this site.
What we will be doing on this page is keeping you up to date on District Jamboree news. We will be passing on information about district fund raising and passing on helpful information that the Council does not include on their site. As such this page will be a continual work in progress.
If you are thinking of sending your son - do so, it will be an experience he will not forget. My son and I went to the 2001 Jamboree and had the best time ever!!!
A couple of early words of advice: make sure your son understands that he needs to drink water ALL THE TIME, humidity is an issue and it is very easy to become dehydrated.
Send chaffing powder.
Parents: consider teaching your son how to use a calling card and opening a joint checking account that has an ATM/credit card that you can add money to if needed. Let him use both before he leaves so he understands how use a calling card, how to work an ATM machine and how to charge things. I found that I couldn't always get cash on the East Coast, usually only at bank ATM's, so make sure your son knows to get cash out when he can, as we don't go by banks all that often. Also, make sure he knows that his card will most likely work if he "charges" things vs. using it as an ATM card - I have no idea why. RE: phone calls. Once we hit camp it was kind of hard to get to the phones. It is a little bit of a walk to hit the banks of phones and there is usually a line. I found that my husband and I traded messages on his cell phone voice mail and my personal voice mail. While talking personally is nice, there is a 3 hour time difference and life at camp is like being in a different country. Some boys really need to hear from mom and dad. I would suggest either getting a voice mail your son can access from camp or set up times when you will always be home - just so he can hear your voice if he needs to.
I went for 10 days and I spent about $1,000. I'd say most boys went with about $500 to $700 dollars for the 10 days. Some will want to buy a souvenir at every place they stop and others won't. I suggest you discuss some ideas about what to collect. For example I collected those little spoons, brought post cards and sometimes brought a book or video of wherever we were visiting. The videos are fun to share when you get home, BUT remember, they will be traveling and camping. Buy some sort of container to store stuff when they get to camp that will keep their things dry and unmashed. Send an extra empty bag they can fill up as they accumulate stuff. You can send Rubbermaid containers in advance on the container truck. Plus - the food is okay - but not the greatest, at camp they will spend a certain amount of money buying hamburgers, cokes, ice creams, and more souvenirs.
Plus, you son will need/want about 100 patches to trade - it seems crazy but true. They will be doing a lot of trading on the road with other Scouts they meet, when they get to the Jamboree - well the only thing I can say is patch trading is crazy, make your good deals before the Jamboree because the cool patches will be tough to trade for.
I brought a couple mint sheets of old BSA postage stamps and exchanged them with people. If your company has promo stuff they feel like giving your son and his friends to pass out, send it along. There is all kinds of stuff collected, traded and given away at the Jamboree - things to eat or pins are good, as Scouts are always hungry and pins are easy to attach to lanyards.
Send tons of film - buy a bunch at Costco. I found it was a good idea to just buy high speed film, because you never knew what kind of light you'd be in. Also, those "single use" type cameras are a good idea; some of them take wide pictures, which is kind of cool. And of course tell you son to pay for the group photo. Maybe send a check with the Scout Master to hold for the pictures.
If you are an adult going - the best advice I can give is to chill out - let the boys enjoy themselves and try not to cram too much into every day. Down time is good. Let the boys swim and do whatever they want as much as possible - this is their trip of a lifetime, not yours. Try not to be cranky. Be flexible, change plans while touring to adjust to reality. Remember - you're going with Boy Scouts - a buddy is required, but don't hover and control their every move, let them enjoy the trip. It took a couple of days for the adults to adjust to the climate at camp. We found showers, naps and private time to be very important. I strongly suggest every adult have his or her own tent, sometimes it is good to just be alone. Touring and camping for the amount of time a Jamboree takes, away from spouses and home, can make the nicest person - grouchy. I was blessed with sharing the Jamboree with a fantastic Scout Master, Tom Eppenberger and ASM, Kim Archibald. We all took turns buying each other cold drinks and giving each other some private time. It made all the difference in our experience and how we related to the boys.
If you have any specific questions that you'd like to ask about what to expect - feel free to email me. Have a great time - SEE YOU AT THE HILL!!!
Sherry Nolan
2001 Jamboree Asst. Scout Master, troop 625
last updated 1/17/03
return to Aklan Web Page