Space event to help Scouts
Former Sen. Jake Garn will be the keynote speaker at the Aerospace O Rama for Varsity and Venturing Scouts May 16 and 17. Miss Utah and U.S. soldier Jill Stevens will also speak.
"Our kids are not catching the picture," said Scout Council board member Wid Tolman. "They don't seem to have direction. It isn't working,"
The event is designed to open their horizons and give them purpose, he said.
The Venture and Varsity Scouting programs were launched by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1977 and later adopted by the Boy Scouts of America.
The Scouting program is losing many Scouts to drugs and other "poor choices," such as dropping out of high school, Tolman said.
Last year in the Utah National Parks Council, only 2,200 Scouts out of 70,000 earned their Eagle rank. That is unacceptable, Tolman said.
Because the lay leadership in the church changes often, many of the Venture and Varsity leaders are never trained.
"The leaders are not showing up. They don't know the program," he said.
Scout leaders have trouble getting the word out, Tolman said.
Events for the overnighter include aerospace and educational booths, rocket launches, hot-air balloon flights, falconers, an F-16 flight simulator, flyovers and an illusionist, Mike Hamilton, who performs illusions with a message. One of his illusions will be to produce Stevens "out of thin air," Tolman said.
Garn will arrive in a Black Hawk helicopter, while another one will be used for rappelling demonstrations. An Apache helicopter will also be on hand.
Garn, who was the first member of Congress in space, will share his experience as a payload specialist on board the spacecraft Discovery.
The event is free. Scouts can register online at utahscouts.org.
"Scouts can register right up the the day before the event. No one is going to be turned away," Tolman said.
If you go . . .
What: Aerospace O Rama
Where: West Desert Airpark, Fairfield
When: May 16 and 17
Cost: Free
Web: utahscouts.org
E-mail: rodger@desnews.com
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