Boy Scouts from West Windsor Troops 40 and 66 were integrated with other local area troops to form “Troop 2047” and train together for close to a year for the National Jamboree held at Fort A.P. Hill Army base in Virginia. The event, usually held every four years, invites qualified scouts with a rank of first class or above for a 10-day experience.
Troop 40 members included Michael Hasling, Andrew Lavadera, Lucas Supinski, Joe Francisco, Billy Goldstein, Tom Savage, Alex Rohrbach, Matt Hasling, Rick Williams, Matt Meers, Brain Reil, Marc Vinci, Kyle Rohrbach, David Lee, Jonathan Ruff, Stephen Francisco, David Foppes, Braden Friscia, Victor Hall, Sharif Labban, and Adam Schuit. Troop 66 members included Matt Mazur, Ryan Carey, and Dan Ibanez. Michael Hasling, 18, was the only adult leader from the area. Mazur and Schuit were youth leaders.
A tent city was created for close to 40,”000 people including scouts, staff, and military personnel. “The things one can do at Jambo are simply unforgettable,” says Schuit. “Activities available at Jamboree included BMX biking, archery, rappelling, scuba diving, and trap shooting.”
Schuit, a rising sophomore at High School North, became reacquainted with a teen he met earlier this summer on an American Trails teen tour to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and Bryce and Grand canyons. This summer he also was a volunteer escort at Lawrence Rehabilitation and swam on the Whalers team. As chaplain aide, he leads religious prayers at meetings and on campouts.
During the Jamboree, national news featured four scout leaders killed by a power line. According to Schuit, “They did not tell us about the accident until a few days later.” The Jamboree also made news when more than 300 scouts fell ill from the heat and humidity while waiting for a scheduled visit by President Bush. “We walked all the way, waited for awhile, listened to speakers, and then the commissioner sent us back when the visit was postponed,” he says. “There was a bad storm with lightning and winds and six tents were down at the campsite.”
Bush did speak at the Jamboree a few days later. “It was amazing to see him. There were American flags all over,” Schuit says.
Pietro Smith of West Windsor was also at the Jamboree — as a sculptor creating a memory of the event. His original plans for a botanical theme were left behind when the scout leaders died and it was decided that a tribute for the men was more appropriate.
Since 1993 the U.S. Forest Service has commissioned sculptures at the jamborees. Smith, working on a block of Indiana limestone, originally a paving stone at the National Cathedral, created the Forget-Me-Not now located in the lobby of the Forest Service headquarters in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Smith, 59, is also known as Pietro del Fabro, a name he adopted when he began to devote his life to Italian culture. He is also a painter, poet, art instructor, and tour guide. A graduate of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Class of 1967, he majored in American history. He earned his MBA from Rutgers University and is a former investment banker.
According to the Hobart and William Smith College webpage, Smith began visiting New York City art museums on his lunch hours and yearned for a career in the arts. He and his wife, Maria, a psychotherapist, agreed that he would work in investments for 10 more years while educating himself in the arts, while she completed her degree in Italian literature.
Smith’s works in the vicinity include the West Windsor Township Veterans Monument on the corner of North Post and Clarksville roads, and the concept and design of the Church of St. David the King, also in West Windsor. He gives lessons in creative drawing, painting, and sculpture, and leads annual tours of Florence and Rome. Visit www.pietrodesigns.com for more information.
