Southern Region Jamboree Weblog

The Program Begins……

Our perfect weather luck rain out last evening and the rains finally came to the jamboree site. But by daybreak all that remained were some drops and within a few hours the sun came out and the heat began to rise. Unfortunately, some of the program areas got a bit flooded so there were some adjustments in the schedule for some subcamps. And there was good news and bad news from the units on the “rain-proof-ness” of the UK tents. Good news – the youth tents did not leak. Bad news – some of the adult tents did. Oh well. Better this way than the other way round, don’t your think? Best news – our leaders said “don’t worry about it – we’re tough.” God bless those guys.

Every youth that we met – without exception – gave us a great report about their experiences among the subcamps and program areas. Of course many of our guys are in love with the young ladies that they have met. There is certainly no clear cut opinion on which country has the cutest girls. I have heard Brazil, Switzerland, Italy, UK (of course), and many others mentioned. I had dinner with Troop 210 (Morency) – hamburgers and salad – and they were wired. Many Scouts were preparing to go to Sunday church services after dinner and then get back to the business of making friends, trading patches, and participating in a giant subcamp scavenger hunt.

The jamboree site was absolutely full of visitors today. I admit that I was very surprised about the number of international visitors – especially the young cub scouts. I saw at least 50 young Thailand scouts, a host of other Asian scouts, and thousands of UK Beavers and Cubs. We had a chance to chat with many of these visitors and they were so excited to be a part of the jamboree – if only for a day as a visitor.

Tomorrow our scouts continue with their regular rotation of program. Again some will be offsite at Gilwell, Splash, and Starburst (service projects). Others will spend the day on the jamboree site doing both educational and fun activities.

The weather forecast is for nice weather through Wednesday and that’s great (if it holds true) since August 1 is the actual sunrise service and anniversary party in the subcamps and later that evening in the arena.

A follow-up to my personal note from yesterday, it turns out that I am ignorant on my royals. My chat was not with Prince Charles (who is the Prince of Wales) but rather with his cousin Edward (who looks a lot like him) who is the Duke of Kent and the President of the UK Scout organization. It was still very cool to meet a member of the royal family even if he is not in line for the crown.