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Joshua Owens and Andrew Neal set up a tent at the 1998 Scoutfest at the Columbia Copunty Fairgrounds. Both boys are from Cub Scout Pack 116 in Appling. Scouts from 16 Georgia counties arrived for the overnight campout. Jim Blaylock/Staff

Scoutfest may draw 5,000

Web posted May 2, 1998

By Jason B. Smith
Columbia County Bureau

Tommy and Matt Rhoden spent the first 30 minutes of the 1998 Scoutfest fighting Mother Nature -- and their tent.

``We'll get it if the wind doesn't kill us,'' said Mr. Rhoden, assistant Scout leader of Troop 56, sponsored by Stevens Creek Elementary School.

The 1998 Scoutfest, hosted by the Georgia-Carolina Council of the Boy Scouts of America, began Friday night with about 300 Scouts and their leaders sleeping in tents in a parking area at the Columbia County Fairgrounds.

``The fairgrounds really has a good camping area,'' said Jimmy Cook, district director of the local council. ``And the location is fairly accessible to all the units.''

Organizers expect about 5,000 people -- 2,000 of them Cub and Boy Scouts and Explorers from 16 area counties -- to attend the weekend-long camp out at the fairgrounds on Columbia Road.

``Last year we had about 1,000 Scouts,'' said Jay Widby, lodge chief of the Bob White Order of the Arrow, who planned the event. ``It rained all weekend. This year should be much better.''

Adam Arthur, 11, was excited about his first camping trip at Scoutfest, but there was something else he was really looking forward to.

``We're excited because we get to eat pizza for supper,'' he said as he began to cut firewood.

Today, events begin at 10 a.m., with outdoor cooking, pioneering, fire safety, Native American dancing and other demonstrations. Activities also begin at 10 a.m. Sunday, with the Scoutfest ending at 4 p.m.

Tickets to the event are $1.