You may have heard that in July I sent some of our Cary Scout paraphernalia across to my old Troop, the 10th Wallasey, in Cheshire, England. They were having a 70th Anniversary camp commemorating the very first Boy Scout World Jamboree held in 1929. It was held in a city park, Arrowe Park, in the nearby industrial town of Birkenhead in northwest England and was attended by none other than Scouting's founder, Baden Powell, and England's Prince of Wales (soon to become notorious as King Edward VIII who eight years later abdicated the English throne to wed American divorcee, Mrs. Wallis Simpson).
I had originally re-established contact with my old Troop via the Wallasey Scout District web page (to which 208 thanks to now has a link, if you want to check it out). . The 70th Anniversary camp was being held on at Lord Leverhulme's Estate. (More historical notes - Leverhulme's grandfather started Lever Brothers, now one of the world's largest soap and detergent empires, in a model industrial; village, now a visitor attraction called Port Sunlight, in Cheshire).
My UK scouting contact, Graeme Ince, asked me if I had any scout items from the USA to represent the 1929 American contingent at that first World Jamboree. I sent my Trop 208 Scout Uniform plus my old 10th Wallasey uniform (which luckily I have kept over the years) and a bunch of US badges, books etc. I also sent a US flag.
Well apparently all this stuff was a big hit with the campers and in their return package they sent me photographs, a UK neckerchief, some UK badges and a sheaf of messages from the pages of their guest book. All the boys and girls (yes, they have girls too in English Scout Troops) and their Scout Leaders had signed and sent messages like:
Greetings from this side of the pond to Troop 208
Hello to all of you at Troop 208
I must be mad but I enjoy Scouting
What's it like in America
Is there a Wallasey in the USA?
You should travel to Wallasey because it's the place to be - come and visit soon
There was also a message to our Troop from England's Chief Scout, George Purdy, who performed the Camp's opening ceremony. Perhaps the biggest thrill of all was that one of my old Scout masters, Herbert Price, now in his late-80's, happened to be strolling through the camp and recognized my old uniform. He had his picture taken holding my old uniform and sent it to me with a letter saying how moved he was to establish contact again after forty or so years after hiking the scouting trail together. He was particularly gratified to see that, as a result of his influence, I too had encouraged my own boys to be Scouts.
If Troop 208's plans for a "Millenium UK Camp" in summer 2000 materialize, I shall look forward to a warm welcome from my fellow Scouts in Cheshire.