September 7, 2010

TO: INDIAN DRUM LODGE MEMBERS
SCENIC TRAILS COUNCIL VOLUNTEERS
COUNCIL EXECUTIVE BOARD
COUNCIL STAFF

The Scenic Trails Council, Boy Scouts of America is pleased to announce the appointment of Vicki Riley to the position of Lodge Advisor, Indian Drum Lodge of the Scenic Trails Council.

In this position, Vicki is responsible for working closely with district and council volunteers and professional Scouters. Vicki, in her role will be responsible, along with the Lodge Chief to see that the lodge is working in close support of and in harmony with the council and district program. In her role as lodge adviser she will serve as member of the council camping committee and council executive board.

Vicki has served as a scout leader for over 10 years with her sons, William and Justin, and her husband Jeff. She is a District Award of Merit, Silver Beaver recipient, and has received the Founder’s Award. She just recently became a Vigil Honor member. She has served the Northern Trails District as Friends of Scouting coordinator and District Popcorn Chairman. She has also been a valuable member of the District Training team and has been award her Wood Badge beads.

She is head accountant for Avalanche Bay and the Mountain Grand Lodge at Boyne USA.

Please join me in extending congratulations to Vicki as she assumes her new role in the lodge.

Sincerely,
Daniel C. Hogan
Scout Executive
Scenic Trails Council

All you can eat pancake breakfast!

Morning in Sandusky!

We all made it to Sandusky and everyone is excited about Cedar Point tomorrow. The cabins are small, but very nice!

Bowling Green --
BOWLING GREEN Soggy but satisfied could best describe the parting attitude of the 34,579 Boy Scouts and their adult leaders as they left the 2010 National Scout Jamboree yesterday morning at Fort A.P. Hill.
Many of the 900 troops from all 50 states and 26 foreign countries that camped here during the 10-day event took down their tents and packed much of their gear the evening before -- to get a head start on yesterday's departure.
"We'll be sleeping under the stars," Al Best, scoutmaster of Heart of Virginia Council Troop 1702, advised Tuesday night. But then rain began to fall hard around 4:20 a.m. yesterday, forcing many Scouts and leaders to find temporary shelter.
The boys in Troop 1702 first rigged up some tarps, but eventually were forced to occupy a large military shelter used during the Jamboree for staff dining and food.
The Scouts got what sleep they could before waking around 6:30 a.m. to begin their journey home, Best said by cellphone yesterday as he sat on one of 10 buses that ferried central Virginia's jamboree contingent of 360 boys and 40 adults.
But the weather -- which mostly was agreeable since the Jamboree's opening day July 26 -- did little to dampen the boys' spirits or their cherished memories of a Jamboree that celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America.
"How amazing the Jamboree was can't be described in words," said Ryan Densley, 16, an Eagle Scout from Henrico County who camped with Troop 1702. "This will go on the list of the top five things in my life. It was amazing."
The abundance of activities during the event was fun and memorable, Densley said, "but it was more than that. It's the experience, the emotions. I mean there are so many people here and you do so many amazing things. It's just indescribable, really."
For Ed Pemberton, 14, a Scout from Doswell, the Jamboree wasn't what he expected. "Before you go, you don't really know quite what to expect," he said. "But when I got here, I found it was better than I expected."
He enjoyed swapping decorative embroidered patches with other Scouts -- a Jamboree tradition -- and testing his physical and mental prowess in a "confidence course" of obstacles that included being slung high into the air in a parachute-like harness called the Flying Squirrel.
John Hutchinson, 17, a Scout from Henrico, relished meeting Scouts and leaders from distant places.
"I liked having someone there from somewhere else that I could talk to and compare experiences with," said Hutchinson, who camped with Heart of Virginia Council Troop 1708. He recalled talking to a scoutmaster from Indonesia while at the Jamboree post office. "We're from different parts of the world but we're doing all the same stuff," Hutchinson said.
In stark contrast to the 2005 Jamboree -- when four adult leaders were accidentally electrocuted and thousands of boys and visitors suffered heat-related ailments from blistering temperatures -- no major injuries or health issues were reported during this year's event.
Roughly 7,600 boys and adult leaders visited BSA first-aid stations scattered throughout the Jamboree encampment for a variety of minor ailments, and 580 people were treated at a 60-bed military hospital set up and operated by the Army, said Lt. Col. Mike Durham, a public affairs officer for the military joint task force that supports the Jamboree.
Heat never really became an issue this time around, officials said.
"I'd say it wasn't a factor because I think we were well-prepared for it," said BSA spokesman Bob Dries.
For example, Dries noted that thousands of cases of bottled water were made available during the Jamboree's two arena shows, where all 43,000 participants gathered together in one spot. Dries said officials had budgeted six bottles of water per participant for the shows, which came to about 258,000 bottles of water total.
Instead of drinking the water, some Scouts and visitors used the cases of water scattered throughout Saturday's arena show -- attended by 70,000 people -- as makeshift seats.
This Jamboree -- likely to be the last at the 76,000-acre military base since the Army began hosting the quadrennial event beginning in 1981 -- will be remembered primarily for its marking of BSA's 100th birthday.
More than 380 international Scouts -- the largest contingent was from South Korea, with 33 -- joined tens of thousands of American Scouts in a dazzling Centennial Celebration last Saturday. It was the first Jamboree show to be broadcast nationwide via webcast and satellite.
Thousands of Scouts who gathered in several cities across the country to watch the show were included in the broadcast; their local celebrations were flashed on the Jamboree's giant high-definition screens.
President Barack Obama delivered a videotaped birthday message, TV personality Mike Rowe of the Discovery Channel's "Dirty Jobs" series gave an inspiring talk, and the band Switchfoot enthralled the crowd with a high-energy rock show. The evening was capped by the largest fireworks display ever to be staged on a military post.
By the show's end, Scouting officials left little doubt that the 2010 Jamboree was Fort A.P. Hill's last.
Touting a new site in southern West Virginia that is being developed with a $50 million gift from industrialist Stephen D. Bechtel Jr., a 1940 Eagle Scout, BSA executive board member Jack Furst promised the crowd that the Summit Bechtel Family National Scouting Reserve will be ready to host the 2013 Jamboree.

Rooms at the 4H Center.

Nice shot taken at the World War II Memorial.

Photos inside the dining hall at the 4-H Center.

Another photo of the Secret Service agents guarding our national treasures!

In front of the Lincoln Memorial.

Inside the rotunda. Not sure I spelled that right.

We made it to the Capital and Senator Levin talked to the Scouts!

Reflections in the wall!

Heading into the Lincoln Memorial.

Here is a picture of the FBI agents that guard the Whitehouse! One of them forgot his shades.

The troop in front of the Boy Scout statue in Washington DC.

Lounging and grace before dinner.

Scenes from around the 4-H Center.

The 4-H Center where we will spend the next 2 nights, before heading Northwest.

Josh Walker and Zach Perrrault with Shawn.

Photos of Snowboarder Shawn White.

Video at the big show!

Video of the arena show I took.

More photos of the recreation room at the 4-H Center.

Photos from the recreation center in Washington DC.

4-H Center in Washington DC

We made it to the 4 H Center in Washington DC and it is very nice. The Scouts are playing in the game room while we wait for our rooms to be ready. We are 7 miles from the Washington Monument and it is very nice.

Many are very tired. The troop took all the tents down last night and it started raining about 3:30am so many have been up since then. They stayed under the tarps and the washing room tent.

Mike Besko hello message

Drew McHugh hello message.

Olympic snowboarding gold medalist Shaun White poses with mountain board riders at the 2010 National Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia, Tuesday Aug. 3, 2010.

6 or 8 of our Scouts got autographs and shook his hand. They got to the site he was attending over 4 hours early.