Wednesday, July 19, 2017

2017 BSA National Jamboree - Day 2 - July 18, 2017

We woke up early and were met at Lewis County High School by a Lewis County official. We would be taking a very short drive from the school to the Bendale United Methodist Church for breakfast. We loaded on the bus and headed over to the Church.

Members of the Church had prepared a really nice breakfast for us, including eggs, french toast, sausage, hash browns and biscuits and gravy. Everything was delicious and we all had plenty to eat. After breakfast, we loaded back on to the bus and headed over to Lewis County Park, the site of our service project for the day.

We pulled into he park and the first thing we saw was the swimming pool. There were diving boards and water slides, and everyone was already looking forward to getting a chance to get into the pool.

We met some of the county officials who we had met the previous evening as well as some of the park staff. Our job was to stain new split rail fences that had been installed in the park. At first look, it was a LOT of fencing!!! They gave us the stain, brushes and paint pails and we got started.

After a little while, it was becoming clear that we were going to get the job done pretty quickly. The boys did a good job getting much of the work done before it started to get too hot. Then, it was time to work on the sections of the fence that were in the sun. That's when things started to slow down!

We talked with the park staff and we decided that we would change the day's plan a little. The original plan called for us to do the service project, then return to the high school to clean up and change, after which we would be taken to a glass blowing demonstration, followed by dinner and a pool party at the park.

Instead, we decided that we would go back to the high school to get our bathing suits and towels, then come back to the park and eat lunch. After lunch, we would finish the service project and then take a short swim before going to the glass blowing demonstration. When we got off the bus after returning to the park, we were met by someone who told us that there were some people coming to the park to meet one of the boys from our Troop. Apparently, he was a direct descendent of a prominent family in the area. We were a little confused as to how they know about him. Later, we found out that his grandfather had made a phone call to let these people know that his grandson was in the county.

Lunch was hot dogs with all the fixings. After lunch, we finished the service project, which also included painting all of the picnic tables in the park, and then some of the boys went for a swim, while others played basketball, miniature golf and just relaxed.

We were then taken to a glass blowing demonstration. At one time, glass blowing was a major industry in Lewis County. Following that, we went back to the park where we had dinner which included brick oven pizza, BBQ pork, and lots of sides. Dessert was birthday cake and ice cream. Lewis County was celebrating its 200th birthday this year.

After dinner, the pool was made available to us and we all enjoyed a nice swim. It was then time to go back to the high school for the night.

It had been a long day, and everyone had a really great time! Tomorrow, we're off to the Jamboree!

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