The 1997 Boy Scout National Jamboree Fort A.P. Hill in northern Virginia - Page 2
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| For 1997 there was full page spread in Jamboree Today showing unique gateways. Gateways are a Jamboree tradition going back to 1937. |
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 In 1993 I showed that the Order of the Arrow played a larger role at the Jamboree, that was the case again in 1997. Hundreds of arrow-men were on Jamboree staff, running the Odyssey Tour and Indian Village. |
| Commercial Sponsers |
| Over the years the BSA had secured commercial sponsors to help provide funding for BSA activities. Coca Cola was well known for it’s ad’s featuring Scouts in the 1930’s. Ad’s were in the back or on the inside cover of handbooks for many years. Buick of Lansing Michigan provided the local contingent cars to travel to the Jamboree, etc. In 1997 cooperation was received from General Motors, specifically the Pontiac Division. Roy Roberts, a GM Vice President was 1997 Jamboree Camp Chief. |
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  I will comment more on the BSA outreach to industry and the military in the 2001 Jamboree page. It appears that the military, especially the Army was interested in having the soldiers that staff the Jamboree be interested and perhaps even active Scouters. For the 1997 Jamboree these individuals could not put any BSA insignia on their military uniforms, (below) -but the Army developed a set of 18 laminated tags with BSA insignia. The soldier could attach these to their Army uniform to indicate they were or had been Scouts. Thanks Jim Ellis. |
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| (above far right) - The District Executive patch struck me as unique. It’s a paid professional position. It occurs to me that some of the soldiers at the Jamboree might be members of the Army National Guard. |
| A BSA Jamboree seems like the perfect place to reach 30,000+ young men who would be shaving, using hygiene products, drinking soda, buying cars, etc. I wonder how many men eat Sardines from Maine as a result of trying them at a Jamboree? The BSA’s position on issues would make the BSA almost “toxic” to larger corporations. Many larger corporations would avoid public acknowledgement of supporting the BSA. |
  (to
the left) - The National Jewish Committee on Scouting repeated their
Jamboree award for participating in activities focusing on their
Jewish heritage. As in 1993 activities ranged visiting the Jewish
Relationship exhibit at Boys Life and attending at least one of the
many Jewish services scheduled throughout the Jamboree.(to the right) - Female Venture, Sea and regular Explorers were again full Jamboree participants. Many Jamboree planners had World Jamboree experience. With a high percentage of foreign Scouts being female, they realized it wasn’t that difficult to accommodate young women at a Jamboree. |
| Jamborees had been welcoming thousands of mothers and sisters for many years. A few extra porta potties, a separate or separated wash house and young women could participate in all Jamboree activities. |
  (to
the left) - Boys Life published a Jamboree Guide with one of the
best maps of the Jamboree. (to the right) - Louisa Mandrel had become a Jamboree favorite, she headlined the closing show. Other performers who had entertained at previous shows were missing, or they were not reported in the Jamboree Today. Louisa was (is) an active Scouting volunteers in Nashville. I mention elsewhere that Jamboree Today had very little on the Arena Shows which in previous years had been widely covered. |
| Shoulder Patches |
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| In 1997 JSP’s, Jamboree Shoulder Patches were used by most councils. The trend of different border colors, staff issues and differently embroidery on similar patches expanded. |
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| Some councils used their ordinary Council Shoulder Patch (CSP) and developed special Jamboree segments. |
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| The ten piece set from Four Lakes Council helps illustrate how things were evolving. Ten different patches, each with different lettering. Four Lakes wasn’t alone in issuing multiple patch sets. Grand Teton had a ten piece set, including a couple OA. Trapper Trails had a seven piece set and dozens of contingents had four to six piece sets. These were fund raising sets sold basically in the council to help raise funds for the Jamboree troops. At and after the Jamboree a few people cared, but these sets are on eBay unsold. The Four Lakes set above has been on eBay for over a year with a asking price of $400. It appears no one cares at least for $400. |
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| Paul Myers Goshen,
Indiana gimogash@comcast.net |