Thank you to CPT (USN-Ret) Ray Ford for your gift of the 1937 Boy Scout Jamboree Pennant

The First National Jamboree was held in Washington from June 30 to July 9, at the invitation of President Roosevelt. The event, originally scheduled to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the BSA in 1935, was cancelled due to polio epidemic. Despite being in the depths of the depression, 27,232 scouts representing 536 councils attended. All the U. S. Government and the city of Washington provided was the land used, the loan of Army tents and similar equipment. Traveling and living expenses were met by the Scouts, each one present contributing $25 (besides his railroad fare) which he earned. Boy Scout cheerfulness was put to the test this week by a downpour that lasted all Sunday night and half the next day, turning much of the camp area into quagmire. Undismayed, 5,000 selected Scouts marched to a memorial service in the Arlington National Cemetery theatre, placed a wreath on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Governmental high spot of the jamboree came later this week with President Roosevelt's review. Instead of waiting while the 25,000 passed him, the President was to drive down Constitution Avenue, lined for two miles by cheering Boy Scouts.

As the President’s car passed in review, he would periodically stop to speak with a scout. Captain Ray Ford, USN (Ret) from Troop 82 was one such lucky scout. After telling President Roosevelt about Fort Collins and Troop 82, the President moved on. Before he departed, he handed Captain Ford this pennant. Almost seventy years later, Captain Ford surprised the Troop by presenting the pennant to us at our Court of Honor, September 2006. We are extremely grateful to him for his generosity.

Sources:

http://pinetreeweb.com/1937-nj1-jamboree-home.htm

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,788126,00.html 

Captain Ray Ford's Recollection

When I was a Boy Scout in Troop 82 in Fort Collins, I had the opportunity to attend the 1937 Boy Scout National Jamboree in Washington D.C. On the mall in Washington were hundreds of scout tents, with scouts from all over the United States. Our Colorado contingent put on exhibitions of western culture and mountaineering skills. The last day of the Jamboree we were inspected by President Franklin Roosevelt. He came in a convertible, with an aide beside him, as he was crippled and could not walk very well. His car stopped close to me, and his aide came over to me and said that the president would like to talk with me. We discussed scouting, Colorado, and my own Troop 82. After our discussion, he presented me with a National Jamboree Scouting pennant as a souvenir of our visit. I was impressed, and carefully kept the pennant for seventy years. As the years passed, I learned just how great a president Roosevelt had been. Hew led our nation through the great depression, World War II, and the recovery of our country as a world economic and military power.

In 1937, Troop 82 met in the same Fort Collins Presbyterian Church where it meets today. I was a member of the Beaver Patrol, and the troop scribe. Our forty or so scouts worked very hard to earn the merit badges as do today's scouts. One of the members of our church, Roy Murchison, was am avid mountaineer and rock climber, and he delighted in taking groups of us on excursions in the mountains. We were all veterans of climbing Horsetooth, Cheyenne Ridge, and other climbs in the area. One of our favorite excursions was up Poudre Canyon to Pingree Park, where we would pitch our tents, catch a few fish, and practice on our scouting skills.

I have a great respect for scouting. I am convinced that being a scout helped me to plan seriously for a life career. In 1940 I competed for and won an appointment to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, which was the beginning of a thirty-three year career as an officer in the United States Navy. Key points included two years in World War II in the Pacific as a gunnery officer on a battleship, getting my navy wings at NAS Pensacola, and serving in assignments allover the world in naval intelligence and diplomatic positions. My final assignment was as the United States Naval Attaché in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I retired in 1973, and eventually returned to establish a home in my favorite city of Fort Collins. It was a great pleasure for me to be able to present the pennant I had received from President Roosevelt to Troop 82 to be included in their historical records.