Four Drumheller Scouts and three of their Scouters have recently returned from the Pacific Jamboree in Sooke, BC.
  The Pacific Jamboree took place at Camp Barnard, which has been a Scout camp since 1945 when it was donated by Senator Henry Barnard.  The Jamboree theme was Myths and Legends, and there was a Sasquatch seen throughout the week at camp.  
    Over 2,200 Scouts aged 11-14 years old came together to test their limits, meet some new people and trade some badges. There were over 550 youth and adult volunteers that brought this event together in a spectacular way! The Jamboree lasts seven days with activities planned every day for the youth, on-site and around the Victoria area.
    Some of the activities our Scouts got to try out included dragon boat racing on the ocean, stand up paddleboard, geocaching, an obstacle course in the trees to beat no other, and rock climbing.  During the trip to Victoria, the group got to see a group of transient whales in the Victoria harbour, which included a baby.  We learned about bull kelp, local trees to the coast, and other wildlife.  
    “I don’t think anyone forgets their first Jamboree, and this will for sure remain in the minds and hearts of these youth as a great time in their childhood, away from electronics and under the stars,” said Scouter Cyndi Sparvier.
    Jamboree is a chance for the Scouters to step back and let the Scouts cook, clean, and get themselves ready to be away from camp for the whole day, plan for their food and water, and other needs.  Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn’t!  The 2,200 Scouts were divided into 3 sub-camps, and there was some good-natured rivalry throughout the week between the sub-camps.  
    A favourite activity for Canadian Jamboree participants is badge trading.  The group designs their Jamboree badge based on the theme of the Jamboree and the goal is to trade the most and find the rarest of the badges that are there.  One of our Scouts designed our badge with a Sasquatch riding a T-rex skeleton.  
    The Scouts have been working hard all year to raise funds for this trip through bake/craft sales, chocolate sales, highway cleanup, as well as selling Scout Trucks to sponsors.  10 organizations and businesses from around the valley purchase a Scout Truck, which was built and designed by the Scouts themselves.  
    The  scouts are grateful for the support of  sponsors as well as anyone who even bought a chocolate bar or package of cookies from the group, as well as parents for letting your child go to  Jamboree to experience some of their firsts – first overnight bus ride, first ferry ride, first dragon boat, first SUP during  their first Jamboree!

At 79, Don Howard can  still ride and rope with the best of them, It turns out when he puts pencil to paper, he is also pretty good at spinning a yarn.
     In 2013, he released his first book, Under the Cow Patty, published by The Drumheller Mail. This detailed many stories about his family and growing up on the prairie north of Drumheller. He still had many more stories to tell, which have now been written and released under the title Wild Garlic and Donsense.
    “Some of this one is about my wife Carmen, which I had to get the okay on that,” he chuckles. “It is just regular stuff. It is very similar to other people’s experience with ranch work, but not a lot of  difference from what other people have experienced.”
    In fact, that is part of the charm, is to tell stories that people can identify with.
     “A lot of people, after they read Under the Cow Patty, said that we could relate to what you said and I guess that is what makes a book somewhat interesting,” he said.
    He has enjoyed taking on writing.
    “I read a couple of autobiographies and thought maybe I should write one, and that one, Under the Cow Patty, was more successful than I would have expected,” he said.
    “You get a little bit of satisfaction from completing it but more of it comes when someone comes up and says, ‘I read your book and I really enjoyed it,’” he said.
    His new book is more of a light read.
    “This one is an easy read, it is a smaller book.  I guess if I kept on I could have added a lot of stories this year, especially with  some of my contacts with wild cows and bulls and stuff, but you can only get so much of that.”
    The book also contains some original photography and drawings by family members as well as sketches taken from old calendars.
    Howard is hosting a book signing for this new work Wild Garlic and Donsense on Friday, August 9 at The Drumheller Mail, starting at 10 a.m.
    As to whether there is another book in him, “I think this is it, I won’t push my luc