Last weekend, the Gulf Ridge and West Central Florida Councils held their Centennial Camporee at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. This was the largest-ever gathering of Scouts in the West Central Florida area. Thousands of Scouts, from Tigers to Venturers, crossed paths at the Fairgrounds for an exciting, action packed weekend of Scouting, Camping, Learning and a whole lot of fun.

As a proud sponsor of the Camporee, ClassB attended the event on Saturday and had the opportunity to setup a display booth and showcase our impressive display of custom patrol t-shirts, patches and flags.

Representing ClassB at our booth were several members of our customer service team, and a few other employees from our screenprinting and marketing departments. What a great time we had! The weather was beautiful and it’s always so nice to be able to relax and socialize with Scouts and Scout Leaders from different locations across the area.  
 
We were also proud to see hundreds of t-shirts from all over Florida that were designed and printed by our team at ClassB.

But perhaps the biggest hit of all were the 1300 wooden nickel spinner toys we handed out to the Scouts – which ended up to be one of the most sought after items at the Camporee! Consisting of a wooden nickel and a piece of string, you can make the spinner do all sorts of different things and make some pretty interesting noises too.

Before we handed them out, we contacted Groundspeak for permission to imprint the Geocaching, “Cache In, Trash Out,” logo on the nickel as our way to commemorate the “100 Years of Scouting” theme and tie together the old-school spinner toy with the modern activity of geocaching. Not surprisingly, it wasn’t just the kids that loved them, the adults did as well.

Our friends at Leave No Trace were also at the Camporee. They too had a display which was visited by hundreds of Scouts, and they held two workshops that taught dozens of Scouts about minimizing their impact on the outdoors. The Leave No Trace team wrote about their experience in their blog here – Leave No Trace at the West Central Florida and Gulf Ridge Councils Centennial Camporee.  
 
The Centennial Camporee was a great success, and a great time was had by everyone involved. We only wish that it wasn’t going to be another 100 years (and a bicentennial celebration) before we get a chance to do it all again!

ClassB was proud to be able to send several of our employees to visit the 2010 BSA Jamboree. As an official Boy Scouts of America® Licensee, we strive to give our employees the real-world experience we feel is necessary to provide the best possible service. Naturally, the Jamboree was the perfect avenue for us to gain that real-world experience.

As we hiked the miles of trails and explored the many different exhibits and presentations at the Jamboree, we soon realized that we were not the only BSA Licensee at the Jamboree this year. We found a couple of other proud BSA Licensees as well. Silver Creek Leather Co. and ArtCarved® both had booths set up to display their excellent products.

Silver Creek Leather Co. had a really nice product presentation and education area set up at the Merit Badge Midway. They had a section set up where Scouts could make all sorts of leather crafts, like belts and moccasins, and earn their Leatherwork Merit Badge. Greg Sartor, owner of Silver Creek Leather Co., is shown in the photo below with ClassB CEO, Eric Hilferding, along with more photos of their popular exhibit.









ArtCarved® also had an impressive and educational exhibit to see. ArtCarved® specializes in producing personalized jewelry that celebrates family, pride and love. They also produce BSA Licensed rings, which look just like high school and college class rings.

Their booth showed us exactly how the rings are made, from an initial carving in soft material, to a stunning piece of gold, platinum or silver jewelry. ArtCarved® is one of the most respected names in jewelry today, and we can see why. The pictures below show you the initial carvings and the finished product.



It was great to see our fellow licensees at the Jamboree. Make sure to check them out on Facebook too:

• Silver creek Leather Co. Facebook Page
• ArtCarved® Facebook Page
• ClassB Facebook Page

And for more information on BSA Licensing, check out their website here.

As we bring our coverage of the 2010 Jamboree to a close, you can bet we’ll be right back here covering the 2013 Jamboree from its new home in West Virginia. Thanks to all of you who have been following!

As the 2010 BSA Jamboree comes to a close and thousands of Scouts return home to share their experiences with their families, I think it’s safe to say that this year’s Jamboree was a huge success.

ClassB was proud to be able to send several of our employees to this year’s event. But what delighted us even more was the considerable amount of our T-shirts that we saw all over the campgrounds.

Every now and then we get to see our shirts in action when we visit campgrounds or gather with local troops, but seeing them on so many Scouts of every age and from every corner of the world got us truly excited. It made us feel like we were actually a part of the Jamboree experience. As our CEO, Eric Hilferding said in a previous post, “I walked away from this year’s Jamboree feeling like ClassB was a part of the Scouting movement, and I really want to thank our customers.”

Thank you so much to our dedicated and loyal customers and supporters! We know that we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.

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Even in the pouring rain!

It’s nice to see many aspects of the Jamboree haven’t changed since I attended as a scout many Jamboree’s ago. Just looking around you could tell that the Scouts were still having a great time, you could see it in their faces. They had been there for days tolerating the heat and dodging torrential rainstorms – and they were all still smiling.





The Jamboree spirit of pride, fellowship and common loyalty is just as alive today as it always has been.

Many of the Scouts still traded patches on a makeshift trading table, a towel or blanket, by the side of the trails, just as I had done. For those of you who have never experienced Jamboree patch trading, it’s just like the stock market, where the value of any particular patch changes day by day. Many of these “traders” are likely to be learning worthwhile lessons that will help them later in life.

The troop campsites had not changed at all, except that some of the tents seem to have gotten pretty high-tech. The gateways to each camp were an expression of the pride for each troop’s area, like the Utah troops having dinosaur and desert pioneer themes. Many troops had obviously put in a lot of time designing and building some very impressive gateways.

The lines at the concession stands were long, as I remember. If I had more time I would have waited in line for my Jamboree favorite of french fries with nacho cheese and jalapenos.

But it wasn’t all the same as I remember it. There were some things that were simply bigger and better than at previous Jamboree’s.

One thing was very new to me, and a welcome upgrade to the Jamboree experience. They had terrific 3G coverage from AT&T, so I was able to use my phone to navigate and write this post in the same spot where I used to lay my own patch trading blanket. The wireless coverage also alleviated the anxiety of many-a-parent, as the boys could call or text their parents every day.

Merit badge midway was moved to a much larger area, closer to the visitors point of entry. This gave every merit badge the extra room needed to really do a good job instructing the Scouts.

I also thought that the Venturing area was very impressive. In fact, most of the action areas were dramatically upgraded from my day. They had huge rappelling towers, mountain bike tracks and archery and shotgun ranges. Scouts were even snorkeling and learning scuba in many huge pools found throughout the Jamboree site.

It was great to find the Scouts having such a great time, knowing that they were all making memories that will last their entire lives. And while things may be a little bigger and a little better with each passing Jamboree, the core values and camaraderie remain the key, underlying qualities of the event.

The day was amazing! We saw scores of Scouts wearing shirts from ClassB. At one point I was trying to count as I walked through the crowd, but I gave up – the numbers were staggering! I stopped to talk to the first dozen or so and everyone was very pleased with their shirts. My t-shirt had our ClassB logo on it and many people recognized the company right away.









I walked away from this year’s Jamboree feeling like ClassB was a part of the Scouting movement, and I really want to thank our customers.

The Jamboree was very well run and I was hugely impressed just how much BSA had done for the event.

Our Vice President, Gregg Hilferding, who is also an Eagle Scout, has been a licensed amateur radio (also called HAM radio) operator for the last 15 years, so he was naturally drawn to the HAM radio area at the Jamboree. Here are some pictures and information that Gregg sent back to us.

If you’re looking for a hobby and you enjoy electronics and communications, then I think I have the perfect activity for you.

It’s called Amateur Radio and it’s really cool.

One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how HAM radio still has so many practical uses, even with today’s advanced technologies. And in some very critical times, amateur radio is actually much better equipped to handle and transmit information than any other method out there.

When the phone lines are down and the power is out, you can pretty much put everything else on hold. But with amateur radio, you can still communicate over a broad area and over very long distances. This makes amateur radio the perfect communication system in times of emergency or natural disaster.

This is an awesome advantage which I think is going to allow amateur radio to stick around for a very long time. It saves lives and helps people in times of need, and it is used to provide reliable communication for civil defense officials and the Red Cross.



Above left: ClassB CEO, Eric Hilferding with a tornado spotter truck, which utilizes HAM radio to broadcast tornado warnings and locations. Above right: Scouts learning about HAM radio and watching actual operators.

But it is not just for times of disaster. It can be fun too!

The ARRL, the national association for amateur radio, is at the Jamboree this year offering licensing classes for Scouts to get their HAM Radio licenses right here at the Jamboree. The staff have been broadcasting on-site since July 26th and will continue until August 4th. And those who earn their licenses while they’re here (or bring them from home if they already have a license) can join right in and operate on the air.

Every year, Scouts who have earned their licenses can participate in a fun event called “Jamboree On The Air,” or JOTA. It is a worldwide event that usually lasts a couple of days. Scouts from all over the World talk to each other by way of amateur radio. They discuss scouting events, experiences and ideas all via the radio.

If you’re interested in learning about picking up amateur radio as a hobby, or if you want to find more information about it, check out the ARRL website today. You can learn all about it there.

Amateur radio is an awesome and interesting learning experience that I would definitely recommend to anyone. And from the looks on the Scouts faces here at the Jamboree, they love it too!

If you have experience with amateur radio, whether on the transmitting or receiving end, make sure to leave a comment and let us know what YOU think!

ClassB Artist, Rachel, who sent us this great story about Brownsea Island, also got the chance to visit the Armed Forces Adventure Area at the Jamboree.

According to Rachel, the U.S. military had a remarkably impressive exhibit area, where military personnel gave presentations and displayed some of their respective branch’s equipment. You could even challenge one of the soldiers to a push-up or sit-up competition (but Rachel respectfully declined).

Her favorite section was that of the National Guard, home of the BSA Patch Wall, which is actually two walls. The full US map was done in 2005 and had many of the patches we designed for the contingents. The second map they were currently putting together was being filled out as scouts came in with their patches to add to the wall for 2010.









“I took some pics of our home state of Florida and zeroed in on our closest council – our good friends from Gulf Ridge Council. I designed the Sheikra Busch Gardens patch for GRC. It was a cool thing to see some of my work represented on the wall from 5 years ago!”

After the patch wall, my favorite part of this exhibit was their incredibly cold tent AC during their presentation! After days in the heat, I’m sure the Scouts couldn’t get enough of it. The presentation, on the National Guard, was actually quite impressive and motivating.

The Coast Guard had a display area that was pretty neat as well. I stopped there to see an exhibit of some of their communications equipment. They also had thermal scopes you could look through which allow our soldiers to “see in the dark.” The quality of the thermal image was unbelievable.

Another interesting booth was about awareness of unexploded ordinance, well worth attending, since I have personally come across military rounds in the woods near my home and was not sure what to do with them. Now I know!









The U.S. Military is a formidable and awesome force to be reckoned with, and they put on a great exhibit this year at the Jamboree. I learned a TON about our Armed Forces and was very impressed by the entire area. I’m sure the boys loved it too.

Oh, and they were passing out free t-shirts, of course I couldn’t pass on one!

If you had the chance to visit the Armed Forces Adventure Area, let us know what you thought about it and leave a comment below.

As we go through our daily lives, we’ll usually come across something that we consider to be a hassle or that, because it happened to us, is unfortunate or just plain unlucky. And we all know that sometimes those little things can add up to one pretty bad day.

But as we get home and settle into our sofa and start watching our favorite TV show, it gets very easy to forget that even though we had a bad day, there are millions of other people in the world who would have given anything to experience the rotten day that we just had.

Able-bodied people take things for granted all the time that others would consider a blessing to be able to do without the aid of a special tool or the help of someone else.

Just last weekend I went to dinner and a movie. I can only imagine how difficult it would have been if I was confined to a wheelchair or was unable to speak. These things that we consider simple and easy can be monumental tasks for those with disabilities.

And that is exactly what the Disabilities Awareness section of the Jamboree teaches the Scouts and Jamboree visitors. One of our Customer Service experts, Missy, was there and experienced some the challenging (but fun) activities, and here’s what she told us about the experience. ___________________________________________________________________________________ They had 18 different challenges to participate in. They were playing basketball from wheelchairs, doing archery from a wheelchair (and you had to load the bow and arrow with one hand!) Scouts were walking on crutches while going through an obstacle course of tires and barrels to get over. One of the challenges showed the difficulty of getting a wheelchair up and down a curb. They even had scouts bowling from wheelchairs. They also had braille compass reading and basic sign language, and there was a course that had to be navigated while the boys wore glasses they could not see out of and could only use a walking-cane to guide their way. The challenges were done respectfully, and I felt that the boys actually got a good understanding of what it would be like to be in a wheelchair, or blind or disabled in any other way. A lot was there to be learned. There are many different types of disabilities too…its not limited to physical conditions. Some people are blind or deaf, some people were born with a congenital disease like Muscular Dystrophy, some people have learning disabilities, psychiatric issues or speech/language problems. The focus of Disability Awareness is not simply to teach people about disabilities, but how to communicate and empathize with those who have them. Like I said above, it’s easy to forget about those with disabilities if it is not present in your life, but when you do come across someone with a disability, it is important that you treat them with respect and allow them to maintain their dignity. They are human just like you – and they deserve the respect that you would give anyone else. Remember that tomorrow, you could be the one with the disability. ___________________________________________________________________________________ In addition to giving those with disabilities fair and respectful treatment, education is perhaps the most important thing we need right now to get the word out about those with disabilities. If you have the time and wish to help spread the word, you can visit Disability.gov to see how you can help. Please leave a comment below and let us know what you think!