Monroe Scouts Took Part in the National Jamboree

A 100th anniversary celebration brought more than 45,000 people to Fort A.P. Hill, Va., for this year's National Boy Scout Jamboree.

The 10-day affair — held from July 23 to Aug. 4 — featured celebrities, including U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates; Miss America 2010, Caressa Cameron; and TV star, Mike Rowe.

Tents were set up on a massive field where Boy Scouts from troops across the country could earn medals and there was no shortage of activities.

"It was cool to meet people from everywhere," said Drew McCauley of Monroe, an Eagle Scout from Troop 62. "There were German scouts and kids from Japan and Sweden."

McCauley, 15, and his friend Eric Caterson, 17, were the only two Monroe scouts to make the trip to Virginia.

To be eligible for the jamboree, a Boy Scout has to be 1st Class and 3rd rank. Of those meeting the requirements in their troop, Caterson and McCauley wanted to go.

"I visited my brother when he went to the 2005 Jamboree," Caterson said. "It was one of my first years in Boy Scouts and I wanted to go."

The last National Boy Scout Jamoree was in 2005 and it's traditionaly held every four years.

"This time they waited five years to celebrate it on the 100th anniversary of scouting," McCauley said. "It will revert back to four after."

The Masuk High School students not only went to the jamboree during a milestone for scouting, it was the last time the event was held at A.P. Hill. From now on, the jamboree will be at The Summit Bechtel Family National Scouting Reserve.

A live telecast

The closing ceremony included a video message from President Barack Obama and a number of celebrity speakers.

Parents were able to watch a live broadcast at Connecticut Sports Center in Shelton. Drew's parents Jodi and Brian McCauley went there that night, Jodi said, adding some Boy Scouts also did a webcast and told the audience what was happening there.

"AT&T was a big sponsor," Jodi said. "They had booths for the kids to use cell phones and computers."

"I was glad he was able to go," she said of Drew. "It was a once in a lifetime experience for them. We were glad they went on the 100th year anniversary."

"It was the last one we could go to as youth," McCauley said. "We're both thinking of going as staff members in 2013."

Earning the Eagle

Caterson's favorite part of the closing ceremonies was Mike Rowe's speech. Rowe stars in Dirty Jobs and is the voice of Deadliest Catch on Discovery Channel. He also narrates Ford commercials.

"Mike was a good one," Caterson said. "He calls himself the Ambassador of Dirt. He told us how he first became a Boy Scout and got a bloody nose and a black eye from the games they played in the church basement. He went on to become an Eagle Scout."

There are 120 merit badges in Boy Scouting. McCauley said tents at the jamboree offered scouts the chance to earn close to 100 of them. It gave boys pursuing the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout a leg up.

McCauley, who was 12 when he first joined the Boy Scouts, earned his Eagle in June. His project was organizing and overseeing the sprucing up of jail cells at the Monroe Police Department, where his father is a lieutenant.

"We sanded the bars and repainted them with black Rustoleum," McCauley said.

Caterson, who joined the Cub Scouts at age 7, is still planning his Eagle project. He wants to use pavers to make a walkway down the middle of the Peace Garden at Masuk, along with a circular area where the school can put a bench.

Having fun

Aside from the ceremonies, the National Boy Scout Jamboree had much to offer its participants. There were action centers, including BMX where boys could ride around a track; rock climbing; repelling — when one climbs a rope and slides down; shotgun shooting, rifles, pellet guns and muskets.

"It was a lot of walking," Caterson said. "Paved roads.

"There were 15-square miles of camp," McCauley said. "We probably only saw a quarter of it."

"We walked about 10 miles a day, but there was still a lot we didn't see," Caterson added.

It's the activities that attracted McCauley and Caterson to scouting in the first place.

"I like being able to camp once a month every year," McCauley said.

Caterson said the Boy Scouts taught him how to do a variety of tasks, from tying a knot, pitching a tent and reading a compass to changing a tire.

"The steps they make you take. It keeps you wanting more," Caterson said, "and you learn a lot in the process."