Local Boy Scouts attend national event in Virginia, celebrating
group’s 100th anniversary
From July 21 to Aug. 5, Boy Scouts from all over the United
States and other countries gathered at Fort AP Hill in Virginia,
including four Scouts from San Benito County. To participate in the
Jamboree, which usually happens every four years, Scouts have to
hold the rank of First Class Scout. Most of those attending are
between 12 and 17.
Local Boy Scouts attend national event in Virginia, celebrating group’s 100th anniversary
From July 21 to Aug. 5, Boy Scouts from all over the United States and other countries gathered at Fort AP Hill in Virginia, including four Scouts from San Benito County. To participate in the Jamboree, which usually happens every four years, Scouts have to hold the rank of First Class Scout. Most of those attending are between 12 and 17.
“I had friends that were older than me that had gone to the last jamboree and they had been able to do a lot of touring and going around the area so it sounded like fun,” said Alex Engelhardt, 17, a senior at San Benito High School.
Tyler Armstrong, 13, has also heard plenty about the Boy Scout Jamboree. His father, Ralph Armstrong, attended the jamboree as a Scout in 1981, his grandfather attended in 1953 and 1957, and his uncles have also attended. Armstrong, his father and brother have attended the jamborees since 1985 with hot air balloons they pilot. There are three balloons that represent different Scout laws – trustworthy, brave and loyal. The family sold the balloons to the More Than Hot Air Corporation since the last jamboree, but they still attended as crew for the balloons.
“We had three generations of jamboree goers together so it was definitely a big family event for us, so it was kind of fun,” Armstrong said, adding that his mother and two brothers attended. “Scouting has been a big part of my life for a long time and you know, it’s shaped and molded me into the kind of person I am today, and I’ve been excited to share those kinds of things with my son.”
Tyler, a student at Marguerite Maze Middle School, spent much of his time at the Jamboree fishing. The camp had a pond that was stocked with 40,000 fish, including cat fish, bass and blue gill.
“If they caught a fish that was big enough, they could take it to the other side of the lake and they were showed how to clean it, and how to filet it,” he said. “They could put in a bag and take it to have it pan fried or fried, with Cajun seasoning or blackened. It was so cool. It was a great doing it together.”
Other students to attend included John Biechman and Sam Morcate.
“My brother had gone in 2005 and said it was a bunch of fun so I wanted to go,” said Morcate, 14, a San Benito High School student. “We went to see the Smithsonian, the National Mall, the Lincoln Memorial.”
The Monterey Bay Area Council, which includes San Benito, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, started looking for Scouts who were interested in attending the Jamboree about a year and a half ago. It has actually been five years since the last Jamboree, so that the event could coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts this year.
“They met for the first time maybe in October of last year,” said Julie Engelhardt, Alex’s mother. “They met on a monthly basis to go over everything they needed to do, what would be happening, the paperwork and supplies, so they would all be on the same page and knew exactly what would be taking place.”
She said she was excited for her son to have a chance to revisit some of the places he had toured at 13.
“He has matured a lot,” she said. “Being there for the 100th anniversary was amazing. And meeting new people, not just in the troop … boys come from all different areas. It was just kind of a life-changing experience for him.”
In addition to the tour of Washington, D.C., Engelhardt said he enjoyed the activities that were planned for the Scouts. They included archery, mountain boarding, rifle shooting and rappelling. The Scouts also attended two arena shows that featured such guest speakers as the United States secretary of defense, Miss America and Mike Rowe, from the Discovery Channel.
“We were really tired a lot of the time,” Engelhardt said.
The Scouts were on the go from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. most days. They stayed in a hotel for five days when they were touring in Washington, D.C. For the rest of the trip, they camped in Virginia.
During the camp part of the trip, Morcate said the boys had “free roam” privileges so they could try out any activities they wanted. Morcate spent some of his time earning three merit badges in engineering, traffic safety and environmental sciences.
“It was cool because we had professionals that worked in those areas who knew what they were talking about,” Morcate said.
The biggest challenge of the trip was the weather, between the humidity and then the thunderstorms.
“It was in the 90s a lot of the time, but it just felt hotter because of the humidity,” Engelhardt said. “The thing that was nice is they had medical centers set up if people needed to go sit and had doctors to look at them.”
Armstrong, who grew up in Louisiana, said many of the Scouts from California seemed to have a harder time with the weather.
“My son visited the medic and he said they were seeing a lot of boys from California,” he said. “One particular day there was an absolute downpour where you can’t see very far because it’s raining so hard. They got to see a different part of the weather experience.”
His advice for future Jamboree goers is to bring a poncho.
Engelhardt said he would recommend the Jamboree to younger Scouts coming up the ranks.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” he said. “The Boy Scouts have a new place they just purchased where the future jamborees are going to be.”
