International Jamborees: 1977 Report Canada
1977 - Canadian Jamboree
5 – 12 July / Participants 16 000 / South Africans 6
The wheels of the airbus lifted off the D.F. Malan (Cape Town) runway that cold winter's afternoon, a day before the June school holidays, and our Canadian Adventure had begun. Jan Smuts (Johannesburg) and a Jumbo, a hot and humid Ilha do Sol, a misty rainy Paris, and then London "You won't need to take raincoats or warm clothing" was the pre-trip advice we wished we hadn't heeded! Our first two nights were spent at a South London District Campsite (indoors), being hosted by a Venturer Leader of Dulwich School Troop.
We hired a Ford Transit Minibus and after seeing London, departed for a four day and 800 mile trip through the countryside. Our route followed a suggested itinerary drawn up by Divisional Commissioner / Chief Scout Colin Inglis, and took in places such as Eton, Windsor, Oxford, the Cotswolds, Bath, Stonehenge, Salisbury, Brighton and Gilwell Park. We camped out wherever we could, including one of the National Scout campsites, Youlbury near Oxford, and we also spent a night at Baden-Powell House in London.
There were six of us, all from 1st Pinelands; AGSM Richard Goldschmidt, SM Kuba Miszewski, ASM Paul Kennet, Springbok Scouts Garth Conning and Jimmy Green, and First Class Scout Mike Page. Our trip started two years previously, when our 1st Pinelands Friendship Flag was handed over to Venturer Advisor, Keith Hannett, of the 97th Ottawa Venturer Company at the Norwegian Jamboree in 1975.
Patrol Leader, and later ACM, Tony Richardson, maintained a high level of correspondence between our two Groups; besides letters, the Group magazine, "Cape Western Scouter" and "Veld Lore" crossed the Atlantic every month or so; newspapers, photographs, slides and posters regularly did the two-way trip. Then in August 1976, came the invitation to be hosted in Canada and take part in the Canadian National Jamboree.
Our trip continued across the Atlantic in a 707 to Ottawa. Mayoral receptions, sightseeing tours, parties and a never-to-be-forgotten, incredibly beautiful, two day canoeing trip on the lakes, occupied the time before we were to leave, together with a busload of Venturer Scouts, for Canadian Jamboree 1977.
A day in Montreal saw the Olympic Stadium, a day in Quebec, and 800 miles later we had arrived at Cabot Park on the Atlantic Oceanside of Prince Edward Island. A big flat, but beautiful island where the sun always shone - it was extremely hot and was generally very pleasant as long as the wind blew. When it didn't, mosquitoes attacked you day and night in swarms!
Sixteen thousand Scouts, the size of Norjamb, camping together is always an impressive sight. The programme included canoeing, hiking, scuba diving, deep sea fishing, fox hunting, orienteering, sports, commando course, bus tours of the Island, etc., etc. Highlights were the Opening Ceremony with an incredible aerobatic display by "Snowbird Jets" and the filming of the Anne Murray T.V. programme which took place for three days on the Jamboree site.
The vast site, with thousands of colourful small tents, was split into eight sub-camps, six for Scouts and two for Venturers (over 14 years). Canadian Venturers generally were not as smart as South Africans. Their programme does not lay emphasis on proficiency in the "old fashioned" Scouting skills - cooking was a problem to them; camp inspections non-existent; and to tie anything more than a reef knot was asking too much! They were, however, more mature in other ways, running their companies with a democratically elected committee, with an adult advisor. The company size is approximately 12 to 20 members who meet formally once a month and also hold an activity once a month. The Venturers were like able fellows with whom we got on extremely well, but give me our present South African Scouting any day!
We were in great demand for badge swopping, being among about 40 foreign Scouts - not counting the Americans, present. We camped together with an English and a New Zealand Scout; there were also small contingents from Israel, Japan and Kuwait. Being a foreigner involved us in a bit of flag showing at Opening and other ceremonies and we were presented with honorary Canadian citizenship, a plaque to the "Union of South Africa"(?) and an Arab headdress at the Kuwaitan National Day Dinner. We did our stuff with koeksusters, rooibos tea and "Zulu Warrior".
As we were not an official South African Contingent we wore in our "stetsons" the black ostrich feather as previous Cape Western contingents have. Springbok skins, however, accompanied us for swopping purposes. All in all, the experience swopping provided by Canadian Jamboree 1977 was of World Jamboree equivalent.
Our departure was by bus through Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire of the U.S.A., and down to the "Big Apple", New York City. After three mind-boggling days of skyscrapers, filthy subways, pot-holed roads and Broadway shows, the power failed. Myself in a pitch-dark restaurant near Central Park and the other five ten miles away in Chinatown! It all turned out fine. We saw no looting, only helpfulness. However, we left the next morning by Greyhound bus for Toronto via Niagra Falls. Our DC 10 flight from Toronto took us back to another week of minibus travelling through the Lake District of England as well as Scotland, thanks to Alan Shinton's good Scouting friends who hosted us in Coventry during this period.
Our trip was just short of six weeks' duration. Apart from the air fares, it cost each boy R500 - this could only be done by camping out and having Scouting contacts.
Report by Richard Goldschmidt.
S A Scout Heritage