Peter Pan

On May 7th & 8th the Grand Teton Council held the 100th Anniversary Jamboral.

'Jamboral' is what Scout councils in Mormon Country call council Jamborees. 'Jamboree' is a word coined by Baden Powell, the founder of Scouting. To BP a Jamboree is a large gathering of Scouts for fellowship and fun. The dictionary says a jamboree is “a carousal; any noisy merrymaking.” The dictionary definition is probably more accurate.

We planned and organized the Jamboral for over a year. We had a great team of volunteers and professionals capably led by Ed Gigly as Jamboree chairman and Mark Nelson as staff advisor.

There has been a long history of bad weather on Jamboral weekends but this time the weather cooperated. It was a little chilly but it was clear and calm. That combination only happens three or four times a year in Idaho. I told everyone I was responsible for the weather.

Friday night we had a 'Scouts Got Talent' show for the opening program. We decided to hold a talent show and give out cash prizes rather than pay for professional entertainment. I was impressed with the quantity and quality of the performers and it made for a fun evening. We were joined by David Beck, president of the LDS Church's Young Men program and general officer of the Church.

It got cold as soon as the sun went down but I figured that would keep the Scouts in their tents and out of trouble. The Jamboral was held on the state fairgrounds in the middle of Blackfoot. As Nancy and I were getting ready for bed we kept hearing strange noises. I thought it was cows bellowing and Nancy thought it was Scouts pretending to be cows. The noise kept up until after we went to sleep. In the middle of the night we were rudely awakened by a train passing through town with its whistle blasting. It turns out there is a stockyard right across the tracks from the fairgrounds. And to think I was worried the Scouts might be bothering the good citizens of Blackfoot.

Saturday morning dawned clear and cold. Nancy and I joined the VIP's for breakfast and then we all walked over to the arena. By the time the opening ceremony started the stands were full and there was standing room only. It was inspiring to see thousands of Scouts and leaders together in one place. Cedar Badge (NYLT) Scouts did a good job with the flag ceremony. President Beck was the main speaker. The next day was Mother's Day and he brought Scouts up from the audience to share how using the twelve points of the Scout Law they planned to honor their mothers.

The opening ceremony went very well but there were a few glitches. The program started about fifteen minutes late and that caused the program to run overtime. We had arranged for a fly-over to take place at 9:AM when the opening ceremony was over. President Beck was still speaking and what was supposed to be an inspiring finale ended up being an annoying distraction. To make matters worse as the council president, Jeff Wheeler, was wrapping things up and recognizing the Jamboral leaders the sound of machine gun fire (blanks) from the Varsity Scouting area was distracting and annoying.

As soon as the opening ceremonies were over the crowd started heading out to all the program areas. As the crowd thinned out I saw a Cub Scout crying crocodile tears and looking lost. I went over to him and tried to calm him down. I walked him over the headquarters where we had a lost & found set up. There were already a couple of teary Cub Scouts keeping each other company in the lost kid cage. I spent the morning comforting lost boys and trying to reunite them with their leaders. Almost every time I tried to walk around I’d find another lost boy to bring to the cage.

One lost boy named Tim was unique in that he was 13-years-old and twice as big as the other lost boys. After spending a few minutes with Tim I decided he was not lost but had been abandoned because his leaders needed a break from him. He was pretty obnoxious.

I decided Tim was old enough and tall enough to walk around with me and look for his troop. We walked out of the headquarters building and had taken about five steps when I asked him, "Tim, if you were Tim's leader where would be?" Just then a Scout leader ahead of us in the crowd stopped, turned around, and said, "Tim?!" And Tim was no longer lost.

In the afternoon I hooked up with Nancy and we walked around and saw what there was to see. The Cub Scout and Varsity areas were great but the Boy Scout (mostly military displays by recruiters) and Venturing areas were a little skimpy. Overall the Jamboral was a great success and I had fun playing Peter Pan chasing the lost boys.