Congratulations to Eagle Scout Chris LaMarche

Chris LaMarche passed his Eagle Board of Review at the Great Lakes Centennial Jamboree. Chris had the most ambitious Eagle Scout project in my memory. He is a diver and his project was to replace the bouys on a wreck in Lake Michigan. He coordinated with the Coast Guard to bring in the cutter Mackinaw to actually install the new bouy and the 1 ton sinker he fabricated. He also had to do extensive work with the Department of Environmental Quality and Corps of Engineers for permits. Chris is shown with Jim Simmons, formerly a Scouter in Sault Ste Marie.

More details in a Daily Press article http://www.dailypress.net/page/content.detail/id/514154.html

The Great Lakes Centennial Jamboree

Eleven of our Troops, 3 Venture Crews, and one Cub Pack journeyed to the Experimental Aircraft Association grounds at Oshkosh for the Great Lakes Centennial Jamboree with 11 other Boy Scout Councils from Wisconsin and the Chicago area. The facility was tremendous with plenty of space to accommodate the campsites, activities, and parking. The corollary is there was lots of walking.

There was an arena show in the evening with recognitions and entertainment.

It was an extraordinary event for our Scouts.

Oshkosh Newspaper Pictures: http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=U0&Dato=20090926&Kategori=OSH01&Lopenr=909260823&Ref=PH

Other press: http://www.glcj.org/prstories.htm

GLCJ- The Troops

Our Scouts scattered in all directions and most of the pictures are of unknown Scouts. I thought I would get pictures of our troops around the camp, but got distracted when someone offered me supper so I did not get all the groups. There were over 10,000 participants at the event, so we were a small part of it with 105 Scouts and about 35 adults from the Hiawathaland Council. The event gave Scouts an opportunity to have an experience far beyond what we could offer in the UP.

Thanks to Mark Rose for a picture of me having lunch with Crew 401 and giving pictorial proof that I was there.

The EAA Museum

The Experimental Aircraft Museum was available for a reduced entry fee. In addition to lots of planes and replicas, there were many simulators that were popular with the Scouts.

GLCJ- Adventure

GLCJ- Good tasting and good climbing

GLCJ- Fun and Games

There were a lot of just basic fun activities: kite flying, mountain biking, archery, rifle shooting,
and so on.

GLCJ- Merit Badge Midway

This is a small sample of the merit badges offered on the midway. Something for everyone here.

GLCJ- Fun & Fitness

The GLCJ- Technology and Tradition

This last picture shows the lines at the trading post. Tim Jenkins asked me to get him some mementos from the event. I got in line and did not move for 15 minutes so I left to give blood. I took this picture to show him why I did not get him the stuff, but did come back later when the line was much shorter.