For today’s blurb I thought that I would provide a brief Brief history of one of the most celebrated parts of Scouts BSA, the National Scout Jamboree. In 1937, President FDR  invited 27,000 scouts to Washington D.C. to camp out and enjoy the 25th anniversary of Boy Scouts (This gathering was originally scheduled for 1935 but was postponed due to the polio epidemic). During this first Jamboree, all of these scouts camped out around the Washington Monument and took part in many activities, such as camping and skill demonstrating. This proved to the U.S. that Boy Scouts was a strong program and would be here for years to come. Jamboree has grown to accommodate hundreds of thousands of people over the years and has found a permanent home in West Virginia. This is a reminder to us that throughout our scouting journey to show scout spirit, not only in scouts, but in our day to day lives .

             Seeing that the crossover is happening this weekend, I thought I would share a brief history of Cub Scouts. In England, Baden Powell started a program for boys too young to join Boy Scouts called Wolf Cubs. This program was based off of the Jungle Book. All the way in America, lots of families wanted their young boys to have a program like Boy Scouts but for young kids as well. So the American Scouting Board started to research and experiment ways to do this. They created Cubbing, at first it was not like Cub Scouts today, for example that the entire leadership program was Boy Scout Den Chiefs. After that point Cub Scouting started to grow and develop until the early 1930s when it formally became part of the BSA.  Later in the 80s the age requirement was lowered to accommodate younger kids. With new scouts joining our Troop, this is a good reminder to always make yourself a role model to the younger scouts and better their journey.

               With such a big focus on merit badges in Boy Scouts, I thought I should provide a brief history of how they came to be.  In 1907, England's Scouts created Merit Badges you could earn by mastering a certain skill. These badges were quickly adopted into the Scouts BSA in 1910. At that time there was just a simple list of 14 skills that you weren't even recognized for in a Court of Honor! Later in 1911, Scouts BSA set a list of 57 merit badges one could complete, including:  First Aid, Lifesaving, Chemistry, and even Plumbing! These badges can remind us through our scouting journey not to get merit badges or complete requirements just for ranking up, but to enjoy the opportunities that scouting has to offer, and to grow as a person.

             39th President Jimmy Carter has recently gone into hospice, so I thought I would share about him and his relationship to scouting and America. Not just a President Jimmy Carter also served as a scoutmaster and board member when his 3 sons were in scouts. Even after his one term as president, he continued to serve the community by promoting peace, human rights, and taking down violence and even winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Even in his 90's he has continued to volunteer every year with Habitat for Humanity. These coming weeks I hope we remember his service, and keep him and his family in our thoughts and prayers.