In 1960 Boy Scout Troop 13 left Fort Wayne in July on a 26 day trip covering 5,100 miles of the west. Highlights of the trip included walking 24 miles across the Grand Canyon's south rim to the north rim in 120° temperatures, attending the closing ceremony of the Boy Scout Jamboree with 56,000 other scouts just north of Colorado Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Mark Twain's hometown of Hannibal, Missouri and many other great locations.
This adventure started with the efforts of many parents and scouts going on paper drives throughout many neighborhoods to raise funds to buy an old school bus. It was a long process, but still filled with lots fun. Often someone would have stacks and stacks of papers down in their basements or garages and were so happy someone would cart it all off. At first the collecting was done in cars and then using trucks, but little by little the fund grew and with the contributions by the parents and First Presbyterian Church the goal was reached.
Jim Pinter, one the scouts, recently contacted me and several others from that trip in the hopes that a reunion might be held in the fiftieth year of the event to be held in spring of 2010. The website and this blog are in hopes of finding those fellows who also took that grand adventure.
More details can be found at http://www.richardstamats.com/1960BoyScout.html
If you are or know someone who went on that trip please let us know how to contact him or any other details.
