Local Boy Scouts Attend National Jamboree

By Tanjua Damon

Most Boy Scouts only have one chance to attend the National Jamboree, which is held once every four years. When the opportunity arises, you have to go for it. That is what seven Newtown Boy Scouts did.

The scouts represented three local troops: Branden Roumanis and Danny Tichon, Troop 370; Thomas Cruson and Will Simmons, Troop 270; and Michael Barbour, Edmund Breitling, and Ed Wolf, Troop 70. They joined 35,000 other scouts from across the nation and abroad at the National Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia.

All the scouts felt the trip was a once in a lifetime opportunity that brought friendships as well as numerous skills. The scouts slept in tents and were separated into new troops with other scouts from Connecticut.

The scouts left July 20 for the ten-day adventure that allowed them the opportunity to earn merit badges and participate in activities like scuba diving, rappelling, canoeing, pioneering, archery, and physics.

“It’s about meeting scouts around the country who like to do the things you like to do,” Edmund said. “It’s a brotherhood of scouting. If someone is a scout you can trust them. You can count on them to be there. There’s a scout oath and they have to abide by it.”

While there, the scouts learn about themselves, which in turn helps them learn to work as a team with people they know and people they do not know.

“It just makes you a better scout,” Michael said. “It makes you learn stuff there that you will never be able to do anywhere else.”

“I learned that if I really want to achieve something I can if I set my mind to it,” Ed said. “I learned working with other people to set goals, using my resources. Trying to achieve my goals that I normally wouldn’t be able to do on my own.”

The Jamboree provides the scouts time to learn and reflect so that they can contribute and add to their local scout troop and provide those who did not attend with an idea of the experiences they have there.

“I can help bring some of the activities we did there back for the people who didn’t go,” Danny said. “I can help meetings run smoother with leadership and cooperation.”

Ed created the 2001 National Jamboree logo, which was a mosaic. It was comprised of about 3,840 pictures that were taken during the past year. The photo has 380 megabytes in the PC bitmap format. He received an Arts & Science Merit Award.

Troop members from Poland and Scotland also attend the Jamboree. The scouts also traded badges, collecting hundreds of different ones from various troops across the nation.

“Anybody who is a scout should go because it is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Edmund said. “If you really think about it, you can’t put a price tag on meeting people who like to do the same things you do.”