sticks

I had the distinct honor of going to Jambo in 97 as a particpant, and in 2001 as a staff member. I would highly encourage you to do both. It's a wonderful time, and both experiences are vastly different. '97, I grew up. A lot. Jamboree really helped me mature as a young adult. In 2001, I went back as a staff member on the Fire Department. That was the most fun I have, and even got to help save a couple lives along the way. My engine company was first due for the scout who was struck by lightning. I will *never* forget that experience. Go, go. I won't be able to make 2010 as staff, and for that I am deeply saddened, but I will make it there, one way, or the other as a visitor.

Instead of worrying about if your 12 year old child can go... why don't you go too? Go as a leader or a staffer. I completely understand your worries as a parent, but keep in mind hundreds of thousands of scouts have gone to Jambo before, and the odds of something happening are minimal. Want more proof? Compare the number of fatalities/injuries at the Jamboree where there's an average daily population of 200,000, to the number of injuries/fatalities a in any other community of that size. You'll be amazed. Me, I wish my kids could go to jambo all year round.

As someone who has lived and managed the results of a disaster at a summer residence camp, I can understand and believe what these young men are going through tonight. It's dark, it's scary, and it's painful. But out of the hurt and terror will come strength and brotherhood. Those men will be bonded closer together through a process with more fusion then any leadership training could ever provide. My own experience led me to choose a career path in emergency management, and to this day, I credit a fiesty little storm that tore my camp to shreds and put a tree through my car's windshield with giving me a bump in life to a different career path. He who serves his fellow man is amongst his fellow man the greatest. God bless those boys in Iowa tonight, Prayers to their families.