Scout Show: Area troops come to Buffalo Mall for 2010 Scout Show

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Toni Pirkl / The Sun Ryan Brock, left, of Troop 560 demonstrates the telegraph key he made to Steven Fischer, Flickertail District executive, at the Scout Show in the mall Saturday.
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Toni Pirkl / The Sun Area Cub Scouts watch as another four cars are set up to race in Flickertail District’s Pinewood Derby competition Saturday, held in conjunction with the Scout Show at the Buffalo Mall in Jamestown.
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Toni Pirkl / The Sun This display by Boy Scout Troop 134 called Leave No Trace was the display booth winner at the Scout Show in the Buffalo Mall Saturday. Scouts and others were challenged to guess what items belonged and what didn’t.
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Toni Pirkl / The Sun Brighton Smith of Boy Scout Troop 560 demonstrates flag signaling at one of the display booths at the Scout Show in the Buffalo Mall Saturday.

Talk about it

More than 80 adult and youth members of Flickertail District Boy Scouts of America showcased their program Saturday at Jamestown’s Buffalo Mall in BSA’s centennial year.

The Scout Show, which occurs each year, gives the community and mall visitors an opportunity to see what scouts do, said Steven Fischer, district executive. Different area scout troops set up displays and demonstrated some of areas they’re exploring. Jamestown serves about 230 youth in five Cub Scout packs, four Boy Scout Troops and three Venturing crews.

“This is a way for the units to show what they actually do,” Fischer said. “The show’s purpose is to gain support for scouting.”

For the show, the Scout units could choose from a variety of themes for booth displays, demonstrations and hands-on activities. And the scouts earned belt loops (badges) for sharing with the community a little bit about their experiences in Scouting and what Scouting offers.

“The booths showcase what they are doing as a unit,” Fischer said.

Theme ideas for Saturday’s event included video games, indoor carnival games, maps and compasses, backpacking and signaling.

Boy Scout Troop 560 focused on flag signaling and the telegraph for display and demonstration. Ryan Brock, Boy Scout first class in the troop, said he spent a couple of months working on the telegraph project. He built a telegraph key and demonstrated the use of Morse Code. To use the code, he said he had to memorize its form of the alphabet.

Ryan also talked about his research into the history of the telegraph and its evolution into ham radio. At one time, he said, the telegraph was the “instant” communication method over distance. But as telephone use grew, telegraph use declined.

“They still actually use it, like in ham radio,” Ryan said. “This can get through when the telephone can’t.”

Brighton Smith of Troop 560 demonstrated semaphore, or flag signaling. He said he’d only been working on it for a couple of weeks and hadn’t yet memorized its alphabet. But he knew something of its use.

“They use it for signaling on ships and landing planes on carriers,” Brighton said.

Two members of Boy Scout Troop 163 demonstrated water purification to a Cub Scout at their table. The two young men went through the steps, explaining the necessity of each. In the hands-on portion, the Cub Scout pumped the water through the hand purifier into a container.

Along with the Scout Show was racing in the Pinewood Derby. The scouts buy kits to carve, sand, paint and assemble their own cars for derby racing. Fischer said there is a detailed list of standards to follow in building a car. Paint jobs, however, are up to the participants.

These gravity-powered racecars ran down a 20- to 25-foot incline to the electronic finish line. On Saturday, one race was run a half-dozen times, because even electronically it was too close to call. Winners in this district race will advance to the derby in June at a Boy Scout campout on the grounds of the State Capitol in Bismarck. Fischer said the 10 to 15 racers came and went throughout the day.

“Some of the boys just came to do the Pinewood Derby,” he said.

The show ran from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., which for younger scouts was a long day. Brighton said he’d be glad when it was over. The day was made a little shorter, Ryan said, by the availability of food in the mall. Several organizations were set up in the mall doing some fundraising with baked goods and walking tacos.

Sun reporter Toni Pirkl can be reached at (701) 952-8453

or by e-mail at tonip@jamestownsun.com

Tags: local news, diversions, news, events, scout, show, bsa, flickertail, pinewood, derby