BOY SCOUT CAMP WESTMORELAND – It happens twice a year, the Jamboree of the Air JOTA… That’s when Scouting meets up with Amateur Radio Operators to experience the fun and challenge of two-way radio communications with other Scouts and Ham Operators all over the world. The Jamboree of the Air took place at Camp Westmoreland in Lauderdale County last weekend with a couple of hundred Scouts from the surrounding counties. This was the 58th year of the event, sponsored by the American Radio Relay League, ARRL.
Here is what the ARRL has to say about JOTA: “When Scouts want to meet young people from another country, they usually think of attending a World Jamboree. But few people realize that each year more than a million Scouts and Guides “get together” over the airwaves for the annual Jamboree-on-the-Air (JOTA). During the 2014 event, worldwide Scouting participation included 1.1 million Boy Scouts and 200,000 Girl Guides/Girl Scouts, for a total participation of over 1.3 million–the largest Scouting event in the world.”
The Muscle Shoals Amateur Radio Club always help out by providing radios, antennas and operators to show the Scouts what Ham Radio is all about. This year, as part of the big renovation at Westmoreland, the oldest Scout Camp in America, Hams reworked the antennas and operating positions. If you haven’t seen Westmoreland, ask a Scout to take you out there sometime!
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jenn look closely your dad is in one of these pictures climbing the tower mom