Sue Nelson – Denver, Colorado … It goes without saying that we are excited the Pathfinder International Camporee is coming to the Rocky Mountain Conference in Gillette, Wyoming, August 5-11, 2024.
The city of Gillette is expressing excitement for the Pathfinders to come to their community. Starting with the Cam-Plex, they are building a permanent stage to accommodate the Camporee’s needs and buying 600 Porta-a-John’s!
Local organizations are helping in many ways. The Chamber of Commerce, recreation center, museum, school district, and more, are opening their doors to the visiting Pathfinders. The local Walmart store has been in contact with the Oshkosh Walmart to know and understand the enormity of what they will need to handle. Take note: four of the hotels are already booked full. Gillette is getting ready!
The Cam-Plex and Gillette town tour dates are planned for May 22, June 5, September 11, and September 25. If you can plan on taking a tour, it is well worth it! They are held on Mondays so that businesses are open. Bus transportation is arranged for visitors to get out and hear what the different places are planning for the Pathfinders. These tours are free and include lunch and ice cream at the local Ice Cream Café! Detailed information can be accessed for the “Walk-Around Tours” at www.camporee.org under “Information.”
RMC is also planning to involve a few Pathfinders for the Independence Day parade in Gillette in 2023 and 2024. They will march in the parade with full dress uniforms, flags, and drum corps. We would like the community of Gillette to see what Pathfinders look like!
With the theme “Believe the Promise,” this mega-event will be centered around the story of Moses. The event is expected to have 50,000 attendees, and, currently, 10,000 tickets have already been sold with 12 clubs registered! Are you ready for the “world coming through Colorado and Wyoming?”
Rocky Mountain Conference churches and schools need to be prepared for Pathfinder clubs traveling through. Some of them will need a place to stay overnight on their way to and from the Camporee with a plan for sleeping areas and meals. Some countries are already asking our Conference for help in setting up their equipment to be ready for them when they fly in.
A contest is being planned for a pin design to represent our Conference. The winner will get a free ticket. Pin trading is a big thing at every Camporee.
There is so much to do at an International Camporee. Some 200 honors for the Pathfinders to take are planned. Among a variety of activities, the participants will hope to achieve a Guinness World Record. Expect a talent stage and, of course, there will be baptisms. Several RMC Pathfinders are getting ready to be baptized at the Camporee.
RMC is also in charge of the lost and found department and donation trailers. Pathfinders are like everyone else—they lose everything. Imagine losing your phone, tablet, computer, money, passport, keys, and more. Our staff will stop and pray with them right there that they may find their lost items.
The donation trailers will be placed at each of the nine Union exits. At the end of Camporee, all those clubs who have come a long distance and cannot take camping items back with them, will be able to donate them by placing them in one of those trailers. Those items will then be given to the local Gillette community services, like Salvation Army and others, for distribution as gifts to the community.
Clubs are actively fundraising to attend the Camporee. Some are hosting food booths at Adventurer Fun Day and Pathfinder Fair; others are holding car washes and anything you can think of to raise funds. The LifeSource Mountaineers Pathfinders had a bake-off, and the Durango Ironhorse club is having a yard sale and making “Junk Journals” to sell in June. The Colorado Springs Pikes Peak club is doing a bike-a-thon, a bake-off, and selling Butter Braids.
The Louisville club had a Valentine’s dinner and breakfast fundraisers. They have also decorated a “Giving Christmas tree” with labeled envelopes of items they needed, such as “Camporee ticket.” And the Club Ministries staff served haystacks to delegates In the August 2022 Constituency Conference meeting in Denver, Colorado. If you are interested in supporting your church’s Club, get in touch with them to see what you can do to help.
For more information and to buy tickets, go to www.camporee.org. Don’t forget to sign up for their newsletter. What a special event it will be, and one that will always be remembered. Get ready!
—Sue Nelson is executive coordinator for RMC Club ministries. Photo supplied.
