Local Scouts head to National Jamboree

By Jason Swensen

Church News staff writer

Published: Sunday, July 25, 2010 12:40 a.m. MD

SALT LAKE CITY — It was 1935 and Boy Scouts from across the country were preparing to gather in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the organization's silver anniversary.

No one showed. A polio outbreak forced the cancellation of the maiden Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree. Scouts would have to wait another two years for a Jamboree to be held on the National Mall under the shadow of the Washington Monument.

No such trouble is expected this Monday, as more than 45,000 Scouts and their leaders will gather for the 2010 National Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill, Va. The event will mark Scouting's 100th birthday.

Counted among this year's jamboreers will be more than 1,000 Utah Scouts and scores of their leaders. Rick Barnes, CEO of the BSA's Great Salt Lake Council, said Scouting's 17th National Jamboree will again be a memorable opportunity for young men from diverse races, locales and religious backgrounds to spend a week together in muggy Fort A.P. Hill, making new friends and memories.

"The National Jamboree becomes a great brotherhood where we all share in the Scout Law and Scout Oath together," he said.