Newtowner Attends World Scout Jamboree

By Eliza Hallabeck

While attending the 2010 National Scout Jamboree in Virginia, rising Newtown High School sophomore Henry Summ recalled a booth where Swedish scouts were supporting the 2011 World Scout Jamboree.

“And I thought, wow. I’m from Sweden, so I thought this would be a fascinating experience to meet new people,” said Henry.

Afterward, he applied to attend the World Scout Jamboree, and thanks in part to being one of the earlier applicants, he received the chance to attend the event, which was held in Rinkaby, Sweden, July 27 to August 8.

Henry has lived in Newtown with his family — father Peter Björknäs, mother Catherine Summ, and brother Felix — for 11 years, but he was born in Sweden.

The World Scout Jamboree is held every four years, and is a gathering of scouts from around the world. The trip cost roughly $3,500 to attend, and Henry said he hopes to be involved in the jamboree in the future.

“It was incredible,” he said.

Henry traveled to the World Scout Jamboree in Sweden with a group of scouts assembled from around the Northeast to be one of the United States’ representative scout groups.

He has been involved with the Boy Scouts since he was in second grade. Before attending the World Scout Jamboree, Henry’s group of scouts met in Albany to prepare for the trip.

“I’ve met foreign exchange students that have come to Newtown High School,” Henry said, “but seeing 38,000 scouts from around the world was just mind-blowing and overwhelming in a way.”

Each group of scouts at the event had its own campsites and Henry’s group was camped between British, Swedish, and German scouts.

Near the end of the Henry’s 12 days at the jamboree, a special “Cultural Festival Day” was held, where each contingent prepared something that reflected their culture.

“The Canadians had syrup, the Americans had donuts, the Dutch had candy,” said Henry. “I was able to see how many different cultures were represented at this jamboree. It wasn’t just America in our own little bubble; there are other people who have their own ways of life.”

Other special events were held throughout the roughly two-week program. Henry said he attended an activity called Camp and Camp that had roughly 100 World Scout Jamboree participants travel via bus through the Swedish countryside and stay at a typical Swedish scout camp. “And I stayed at a camp called Almö,” he added

During the group’s time visiting the camp, an event was held that had scouts from Nordic countries assembled.

Henry speaks Swedish and said he was able to speak with the Swedish leaders and scouts during the jamboree. He also studies Spanish and French at NHS, and that also helped a little to communicate with other scouts.

“I would definitely do this again,” said Henry. “I can’t do it as a participant, because the next one is in 2015. But I can go as an adult leader or an IST member, which stands for International Service Team.”

Henry’s younger brother Felix will be old enough to attend the 2015 World Scout Jamboree, which is scheduled to take place in Japan.

“So I will probably go as an adult leader in his troop,” Henry said.

After attending the event, Henry said he plans to keep in contact with scouts he met while in Sweden.

“We were all kind of upset that it was over,” Henry said. “It went so fast, too.”