WESTERN REGION EXPLORER POST MEMO #6 31 July 1998

Our pre-Jamboree outing is scheduled for 23 - 26 August at Boulder, Colorado. It is important that you attend this outing since we will talk about many items that are both required and will make our trip more enjoyable. I've mentioned several items in previous memos and requested your inputs. The responses have been extremely sparse. If you can not attend the outing, please send me your input on all of the requested items. Decisions will be made at our outing with or without your inputs. If it is not possible for you to be there for the entire session, plan to attend as much as you can. We will spend as much time having fun as we will in training. Our last event will end after breakfast on the morning of the 26th. We will get people back to the airport, but do not try for a flight earlier than 11:00 AM.

The directions to our training site are as follows. Our headquarters for the outing will be Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church at 1318 Mapleton in Boulder CO. We will meet there on the afternoon of 23 August and proceed to Camp Patiya, the Long Peak Council Scout Camp where we will spend the rest of our time. Plan to arrive at the Church the afternoon of the 23rd since our first event will be the evening meal at 6:00 PM. We will attempt to meet people at the Denver International Airport (DIA) and take them to the Church. It is therefore extremely important that you let Bob Amick know when you will arrive. If, in order to get economy tickets, it is necessary for you to arrive on Friday or Saturday we will try to get places for you to stay in the Denver area. For those of you who live in the Denver area, please let Bob Amick know if you can help by having an Explorer stay at your house for a night or two. If it is necessary for you to get to Boulder from DIA there is an RTD (Regional Transit, Denver?) "skyride" bus that runs hourly and costs $8, or a shuttle that runs hourly and cost $14. Check at the East or West entrances of the main concourse for tickets and directions to these modes of transportation.

If you are driving, get to the Denver-Boulder Turnpike, US 36 and head for Boulder. In Boulder, exit west on Baseline and continue to Broadway (about 2 blocks), turn north and continue past the "hill area", the University (CU), and Pearl Street Mall. Two blocks past the mall turn right onto Mapleton and go east one block. You will see Sacred Heart School on the left and the Church on the right. Park in the school parking lot. The Scout Center is located in the basement of the Church and is best accessed by the single door on the West Side of the Church.

Parents are welcome to attend our outing or to drop by and meet the Advisors. The Advisors will be available to try and answer any questions parents might have. If they desire to stay with us they will have to sleep in tents and eat our food. There may be a cost involved since funding is provided only for Jamboree participants. We will receive a maximum of $18 per participant that attends the outing. If parents are staying with us Bob Amick will need to know that information.

Wear your Jamboree uniform to the outing. (See next paragraph.) I'm sure it will not be complete. Mine will not be since gear from BSA supply will not be shipped until 1 September. Bring other clothes to wear while we are training. It does not have to be an Explorer/Venturer uniform.

The basic uniform at the Jamboree for our unit will be the green Explorer shirt and regular Scout shorts. You should all have received the "Official Personal Uniform and Equipment Checklist". It lists the required uniforms. You will note that it does not list an Explorer uniform. What it does list is the "Venturing Uniform". (I will not get into the Explorer/Venturing reorganization that is taking place in BSA. It should not affect us.) If you order uniforms from the checklist, order the Venturing uniform. We must also have the World Jamboree Safari hat and pin, which can only be order using the Jamboree order form. The hat sizes are: S=6 7/8, M=7 1/8, and L=7 3/8. The items listed in the checklist will not be for sale in Chile. Since we do not want to wear our Class A uniform all the time, I recommend that we get the World Jamboree T-shirt and also consider having our own unique unit T-shirt. The only uniforms we will wear at the Jamboree will be Class A, Jamboree T-shirt with Scout shorts, or our unit T-shirt with Scout shorts.

The latest travel information still has us flying from Los Angeles, departing on 26 December, and flying on LanChile. The exact departure time has not been determined. It has been requested that you not book travel from your home to Los Angeles since BSA may be able to get add-on fares at a reduced rate. This does not mean that you must let BSA make your travel arrangements.

The Santiago only tour after the Jamboree will include a city tour, dinner and rodeo on 6 January: tours of Vina del Mar and Valpariso: shopping on 7 January: and returning to USA , arriving 8 January.

The Villarica tour includes, in addition to the Santiago tour, dinner, and rodeo; rafting, trekking to a volcano, and free time in Lican Ray; tour of Pucon; and activities with or about the Mapuche Indians. Participants on this tour will arrive back in USA on 10 January. Attempts are being made to get additional spots for people wanting to take the Villarica tour, but nothing is official.

Our unit will be provided with 22 Free Spirit I tents. This will allow for two people per tent. The tents along with other unit camping gear should be in Chile when we arrive. We will not have to carry it with us. Duffel bags will be sent to me and I will have our unit number (which has not yet been assigned) stenciled on them. I am supposed to have them prior to our outing, but I doubt if that will happen. I will send them to you when I get them stenciled. We will also be provided with a unit flag, which will be blue with the BSA contingent logo, unit number, region name, and BSA identification.

Prior to going to Chile visit the library and learn a bit about the country, its history and its culture. Remember, not all countries have the same customs and habits as we do. Knowing about a country in advance may prevent you from being embarrassed by some innocent act. Learn a bit of Spanish. Having just returned from Spain, I was very impressed far just how far a few words went toward having people accept me.

I have attempted to call some of you and in each case discovered that the addresses and phone numbers I have for you are wrong. It is a difficult job coordinating Jamboree activities since we are scattered across half the world, but it is impossible if we can not communicate. Please send me your current address, phone number, and e-mail address. If any of this information changes when you return to school, let me have the updated information.

For those of you that have access to the Internet our Post/Crew does have a jamboree list server. It is jambo714@lists.colorado.edu. If you are not on the list or have an e-mail address change, please send that information to Bob Amick at e-mail address amick@spot.colorado.edu. We will try to set up a Webpage for the unit and get photos of everybody, especially those from the NE Region so we can get to know each other better and communicate about trip plans.

You will soon be getting a resource questionnaire. Please complete and return it to Bob Amick as soon as possible with a current photo. We plan to make friendship cards from the photos for use at the Jamboree.

Following are some web sites containing information regarding Chile and the Jamboree. http://travel.state.gov/chile.html http://travel.state.gov/tips_samerica.html http://sunsite.dcc.uchile.cl/-scout/WJ99 http://bsa.scouting.org/comm/chile/index.htm

I close with one last item. Do your utmost to get to the pre-jamboree outing. It is extremely important that you be there.

Yours in Exploring

Dick Tennent
tennent@telebyte.net