Come next summer member of the first Drumheller Scouts will be celebrating with Scouts from all across Canada at their national jamboree.
    The Drumheller Scouts are in rebuild mode after a few lean years and are renewing their ranks. Part of the excitement is they are getting ready to attend the Canadian Scout Jamboree 2013 (CJ13).
     There are about seven youth in their ranks who are looking at participating as well as leader support. CJ13 is at Camp Wood near Sylvan Lake from July 6-13, 2013.  Even closer to home, the mascot for CJ13 is the Albertosaurus.
    Canadian Jamboree has been held since 1949 and since the 1970s have typically been held every four years. In 2001 the largest Canadian Jamboree ever was held in Cabot Beach Provincial Park with 14,000 in attendance. CJ13, held in Camp Woods near Sylvan Lake will be the 12th Canadian Jamboree.
    The 22nd World Jamboree was held in 2011 in Sweden. The next World Jamboree will be Japan in 2015. In 2019 the 24th Jamboree will be in West Virginia, but co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
    The programming during Jamboree can include everything from tours and aquatic activities to medieval themed activities.
    At CJ13 the Bone Yard program is focusing the dinosaurs.
    While the event is still months away, The Scouts are already preparing and part of this is fundraising. The Drumheller Elks Club has contributed to the First Drumheller Scouts to help them with some of their registration fees.

Crystal Jensen, left, and Jo Jensen of the Drumheller First Scouts accept a donation of $1,000 from Manley Thomson  of the Drumheller Elks. The funds are to help the Scouts attend the 2013 Canadian Jamboree in Sylvan Lake.

    Three Hills and residents may now have a hand up in recovering from the violent summer storms it experienced this summer. 
    The Ministry of Municipal Affairs announced last week there is a disaster recovery program for the Town of Three Hills to help households and the municipality recover from the damage caused by heavy rains the community experienced on July 31.
    “Our first priority is getting help to the families and small businesses who had uninsurable losses caused by these storms,” said Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths. “These disaster recovery programs are in place to also help municipalities recover from floods.”
    The local authorities apply for disaster relief on behalf of residents.
    The government has allocated about $95,000 to help cover uninsurable damage caused by the deluge of rain the community experienced. According to a release this amount has arrived upon from preliminary estimates and could change as the assessments and repairs are undertaken.
    It states,  “Though the majority of the approved funding will cover repairs to public infrastructure and costs associated with emergency response and cleanup, the government’s priority is getting help to residents.”
    The program is open to communities, residents, small business owners and agricultural producers for repairs to property that is uninsurable ‘
    Applications are available at the Town of Three Hills Town office. Applications will be accepted until February 24, 2013. In addition to the application residents making a claim must also include a letter from their insurance company confirming the losses are uninsurable and a homeowner property tax assessment.
    Electronic applications and more information is available at www.aema.alberta.ca.