Troop 54 participated our second NH Jamboree. Compared with our last time at this jamboree, in 2011, this time was different in several respects. First, the camping areas at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, in Loudon, NH, were nearly perfectly flat and level (better than being on a ski slope), second, with about 5,000 participants, this year's event was substantially larger. Lastly, the logistics of this event were much more user friendly - we unloaded the trailer from just a few yards away from the site.
The participating units came from across the Northeast, and one unit even came from Canada. Cub Scout units camped in the open area in the middle of the track, and Boy Scout units camped in the outlying areas. While the camping and exhibits were spread out over a huge area, they had the NHMS trams running, and we took those several times to save on walking.
The normal use for these camping areas is parking for RVs. For this, the NHMS had packed the ground with lots of rock chips to stabilize it, which was great unless you wanted to get a tent peg into the ground.
Except for a bit of light rain just after we started setting up, the weather was clear, cool and windy most of the weekend.
We had four Boy Scouts, one Webelos Scout, three leaders and two other parents participating on this trip.
The opening ceremony included Miss New Hampshire and other guests. The evening Arena Show featured CMA artist Jessie Chris and the local group Cover Story. It wrapped up with a fireworks show.
There was a wide variety of activities during the day on Saturday, including climbing walls, paintball guns and wrist rockets, robots, a virtual surfboard and a Scouting museum. See the event map for more. We missed a few of the stations, getting there just after early closures. The Scouts had fun at the stations we were able to visit.
This was the troop's eighty-second consecutive month with at least one overnight camping trip.
Page updated 11/1/15.